Aphelion
by Aileen Autarkeia
Summary: Sequel to All Hallow's Eve, link in profile. It's taken years and trips in twos and threes, but they're finally home together- just in time to witness the rise of a new supervillain. Now it's time to take a stand again and fight against Ultron, while doing their best to prevent catastrophe. Welcome to Age of Ultron, take two.
1. Chapter 1

MY TRIUMPHANT RETURN!

Let's just say the Captain America: Civil War trailer kickstarted my brain into Avengers fanfiction territory, and after putting this stupid story off for MONTHS, it's HERE!

Enjoy the successor to All Hallow's Eve, and if you see Midwinter's Eve, remember: No longer canon. This is the official canon sequel to All Hallow's.

* * *

Stephanie stared up at the sky, drearily watching as the rain pounded down around the tent. It was a less-than-pleasing sight, if she was completely honest; none of them had truly counted on the 10% chance of rain in the forecast to hit them square on.

"This sucks," Tasha said flatly, as she huddled in her blankets and stared at the rain as well. "Like, seriously sucks."

"You think we don't know that?" Nathan pointed out tartly.

"I'm just saying," Tasha said. "And this tent can only hold off so much of the moisture. It's gonna have to get through at some point. I knew we should've bought a new tent-"

"This one is perfectly fine and you know it!" Claire said, voice rising slightly. "We patched any holes with duct tape already! It's just fine!"

"Guys, quit arguing," Stephanie said finally. "Honestly. Acting like children again."

"Yes, Mom," the three chorused in ragged unison. She rolled her eyes and tugged her jacket closer. Was it just her, or had it shrunk in the wash recently?

"Look, we can't stay here," Brenda said finally. "We have to go find shelter. I can already feel rain hitting my shoulder."

"Seriously?" Claire sounded surprised now. The tent rustled a bit as she stood up and felt around the tent roof. "Huh. Will you look at that? We missed a spot."

"I told you so," Tasha said.

"Will you shaddap?"

"Guys! Enough! Stop arguing with each other!" Stephanie said, raising her voice slightly. "Let's just get our gear and hike out to find help. We're in farm country. We drove past one on our way in. Lori and Lena are at the car- they can hold it while we go get help. Now, c'mon."

They pulled on shoes and rain jackets in mostly silence. Someone said something to someone else, as was usual, that resulted in much punching and smacking of arms. She had to break that up; in the dark, it was impossible to tell who was doing what, so she settled for two stern shakes. "Knock it off," she ordered, as she stood up and stepped out of the tent.

The others followed. Brenda clicked on her flashlight and swept it over the forest. They were alone in the small clearing. It wasn't a comfortable feeling. Stephanie quickly lead the way back towards the farm she'd seen on their way in.

The trek was long, and cold. It was close to midnight, by Claire's watch; she despaired momentarily that no one would be awake. Then she brushed it aside. If no one was awake, they'd wake the owners up. Mean, but a necessity.

They emerged from the woods, all 5 of them, and stared at the picturesque farmhouse. "That is so adorable I want to vomit," Tasha said after a moment, sounding revolted. Nathan socked her in the arm.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, smiling, and pulled her hood up higher. It stretched- it really must've shrunk in the dryer, she thought briefly- and covered her face more. The humidity was still wreaking havoc on her straight blonde hair, though.

She reached the porch, and the others huddled behind her as she knocked. In the meantime, she pulled her hood down and tied her waist-length hair out of her face with a spare ponytail holder.

The door opened as she finished, and she dropped her hands back to her sides hastily. It was a woman at the door, hair brown and slightly curly, wearing a loose shirt and pants, barefoot. Voices drifted from the kitchen behind her.

"I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?" Stephanie asked in alarm.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. How can I help you?" the woman asked.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "but my friends and I were out camping, and the rain hit and the tent started leaking, so we tried to leave but the car's refusing to start. Could you possibly get us a jump so we can leave? I promise we won't take up too much of your time-"

"No, no, come in," the woman said kindly. "You're welcome to stay here and warm up. Let me get my husband- I'll be right back."

"Thank you," Brenda said gratefully as they shuffled in and huddled near the front door like ducklings.

Stephanie took a minute to look around. The house was cozy, inviting. The front door opened straight onto the stairs, with a doorway into what she guessed was the formal dining room to her left and the living room slash kitchen on her right. There were Legos on the floor and pictures in water colors decorating the walls. She admired them silently for a moment.

The woman returned, with a man behind her, looking over his shoulder so they couldn't see his face. "Honey, these kids were out camping and their car won't start- think you could give them a jump start?"

"Sure. Heck, I can give you a lift to your car," the man said as he turned.

Stephanie lost all the breath in her lungs.

Claire separated from the back of the group at the familiar voice and stepped around Stephanie. Her eyes were wide, her face pale. Her hands shook as she pulled her raincoat hood back.

Clint looked like he'd been hit with a 2-by-4.

" _Claire?"_ he whispered, voice cracking.

Stephanie had two seconds to hear, "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk", quickly followed by, "You know, Romanoff-" and she was off.

Her feet pounded as she sprinted the 10 feet to the wall dividing the kitchen from the breakfast nook. Her heart was in her throat, ponytail swinging as she halted just at the corner. Someone had caught her footsteps, because it was silent, before a man called, "Clint? Everything all right?"

She swallowed, took a deep breath, and stepped solidly around the corner.

"Yeah," she said. "Better than all right."

Her eyes swept over the stunned faces. Natasha Romanoff sat at the table; Bruce Banner leaned against the wall behind her. Tony Stark stood in a doorway opposite her, mouth comically half open. Nicholas Fury sat at the head of the table.

And Steve Rogers stared as he leaned against the doorframe, just to Stephanie's left.

There was a flurry of movement behind her. Brenda skidded to a halt just to her right and behind her, a huge smile growing on her face. Tasha wasn't far behind.

"We're home," Stephanie whispered to the silent air, and the dam broke.

She found herself swept up in a bear hug, and hung on as tight as she could. Steve hugged her back hard enough to make her ribs creak; she didn't protest, only let her tears of joy run over and soak his shoulder as she sobbed.

He didn't let her go; it took him a full minute just to let her feet touch the ground again. She buried her head into his shoulder and refused to loosen her own grip on him.

To her right, Brenda had her arms securely wrapped around Bruce's waist and was resting her head on his chest. Her eyes were closed, while tears seeped out from under her lashes and ran down her cheeks. He seemed to be in a similar state to her; his cheek rested on the top of her head, and their hair, almost identically brown and curly, mixed perfectly.

Tasha, on the other hand, was gleefully and unashamedly pounding Tony on the back. He was grinning, too, ear to ear as he hauled her in for a quick squeeze of a hug and released her again. They, besides Nathan and Natasha, were the only ones who started talking right away, babbling a mile a minute.

Nathan and Natasha themselves, however, were a different story. Natasha rested a hand on his arm briefly and, after a low conversation, she smiled slightly. He returned it hesitantly, and she briefly hugged him before releasing and gesturing for him to sit beside her.

Claire came in, grinning ear to ear, one of Clint's arms around her shoulders. "We're BACK!" she yelled gleefully, quieting abruptly when Clint raised an eyebrow and pointed upstairs. She winced, but it was too late. The patter of footsteps caught all of their attention, and Stephanie twisted in Steve's grip just enough to free one eye to watch.

She wasn't expecting the shriek of glee that erupted from the kids when they saw Claire. The young girl threw herself at the older, and Claire scooped her up quickly, grinning widely as the boy hugged her waist.

"Daddy, look, Claire's home!" the girl crowed, unnecessarily.

"I know, sweetheart," Clint said with a wide grin.

Claire turned and spied Laura. She opened her other arm and gave the woman a half hug, since the girl was still clinging to her. "It's good to see you, Claire," she said warmly.

"Same to you," Claire said, and wiped her eyes briefly. "Geez it's good to be home..."

"Wait, you knew about this place?" Tasha asked in confusion.

Claire nodded. "Last time- after we sent those four back home- we went straight here." She grinned. "Didn't expect you to remember me, though, squirt. You were tiny last time I saw you!" -this to the girl in her arms.

"Was not," she countered.

"Was too," Claire said, and copied the way her nose scrunched up in distaste.

"Speaking of those four, where'd Lori and Lena go?" Stephanie said suddenly in alarm. She was still wrapped up in Steve's arms; neither of them seemed to want to let go.

"Good question," Nathan said briskly, folding his arms. "Anyone got a clue?"

* * *

Lena was absolutely confused.

Last she'd checked, she'd been in the woods near their car, in the dark and rain, and Lori had been just a few feet behind her. Now the rain was gone and, if she wasn't mistaken, the sun was out ahead. Moreover, Lori- when she checked- was gone.

She broke clear of the tree cover and came to a complete halt, absolutely gobsmacked. This was NOT the parking lot they'd parked in.

No. This was a university campus... and the sign nearest her read 'CAMBRIDGE' in big letters.

Her heart went double-time abruptly. On reflex, she checked behind her- no Lori in sight. She didn't expect to see the other girl, though- if she was where she thought she was.

She started walking on the sidewalk nearest her location, watching for pedestrians and cars alike. The campus was large, beautiful, and lively; she admired her surroundings as she stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets and kept her head on a swivel.

A building nearby caught her attention; she almost tripped and fell. It was the building- the one from the movie.

Heart racing, she changed courses and made her way towards it. Her vision tunneled- that's probably why she didn't see the pair of boys that jostled her and spun her around.

"Watch where you're going!" one called angrily.

"Sorry!" she called back, and almost choked. The accent was back- "Shakespeare in the park".

She took two more steps backwards and thumped her back into someone. Whoever it was didn't stagger an inch. The two turned at the same time, an apology already bubbling out of her lips-

It died, inches from her tongue. Her mouth went dry.

Thor stared at her, from under his black hoodie, as if he could see deep into her soul. "Are you all right?" he asked.

He didn't recognize her, she realized.

Both hands came up and flung her hood back as hard as she could. Blonde hair- more brown than Stephanie's golden- spilled over her shoulders.

Thor looked like he'd been poleaxed.

She flung her arms around him at the same moment that he hauled her in for a bone-crushing hug. "Lena," he murmured softly, "you're back?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"I believe we all are," she whispered into his hoodie. "We were camping- Lori and I went to see about the car, because it would not start. I walked out of the woods and found myself here."

A bell rang in the distance, signaling the end of classes. Thor quickly looked around and released her. "Do you know what is going on?" he asked, voice rumbling low in his chest.

She started. So he remembered that they knew the plotline of the movie they were in.

"Yeeeees," she said slowly. "You are here to speak to Eric Selvig. About the things you saw- with the Maximoff girl." She would have said Wanda, but she knew the plotline and he didn't. She didn't want to give anything away.

"Aye," he said. "I have reason to believe that Eric knows where the Water of Sight is. If he does indeed know, it should return me to my vision to see what I viewed once more."

"It is dangerous," she said quietly, looking at him calmly as she pulled her hood back up to rest on the crown of her head.

"But it is necessary," he returned. "And you shall not join me."

She opened her mouth to protest, then paused and closed it again. "You are right," she said finally. "I did not see what you saw. There is no predicting what I could see."

A smile quirked across his face as he nodded. "You are wise," he said, and turned as Eric Selvig walked down the steps to the building.

"I like the look. If you're going for inconspicuous, though, near miss." Eric called once he was in earshot.

Thor smiled slightly. "I need your help," he said, as he opened the car door and got in the front passenger seat. Lena opened the back and swung in first, waiting as Thor got in and Eric took the wheel. He looked in the back and started.

"You're Lena, aren't you? The girl who takes after Thor. I thought you vanished completely, a few weeks after the battle of New York." To his credit, he didn't flinch.

"I did," she said calmly. "It is a rather lengthy story. One that I do not believe we have time for as of late."

"Ah, of course," Eric said, and turned the car on. "What do you need to know?"


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back! As I'm writing this, it's the same day I've uploaded the first chapter, but for you it may have been a few days. Anyways, welcome back, and enjoy the next vhapter!

* * *

" _Has anyone been in contact with Doctor Cho?"_

Stephanie ended up crashing on the bed in Steve's guest room. He took the floor; she'd protested it, but he'd been very firm in telling her that she needed it. She was too tired to protest, honestly; and besides, she was grateful just to sleep in the same room as him.

She'd showed up with just the clothes on her back- they all had. Fury had departed as soon as their meeting ended, with promises to see what he could do about their uniforms and weapons. He said he'd be back before the sun rose; she'd exchanged raised eyebrows with just about everyone in the room, but shrugged it off.

Seeing the Young Avengers back with their 'parents' was entertaining, honestly. Tasha beside Tony was great- they were the same height (short, at 5'5") and build (semi-stocky). Tasha had changed her hairstyle, though- one side of her head was shaved, and the rest of her hair, which was short and feathery, had dark red streaks all throughout. He'd promised her that one of his suits would probably fit her, which had her eyebrows streaking upwards like rockets- but then he explained quietly that he'd saved a suit for her, when the rest of them went up.

Claire hadn't changed too terribly much. Her hair was dark brown at the roots, a lighter blonde at the tips, short and swept across her forehead. She was short-ish as well, maybe 5'8", though taller than Tasha and Brenda, and muscular. She'd given the boy-was he Cooper?- a piggyback ride, and didn't seem to be even remotely bothered by him merrily bouncing away on her back.

Nathan and Natasha had conversed quietly, heads bent together. Their hair was the same shade of red- or it would be, if Nathan didn't have his buzzcut to about a quarter of an inch long. They were both tall and lean, but Nathan had about 3 inches on the Russian woman at 5'11" and perhaps 25 pounds.

Brenda and Bruce were hilarious, she decided, as she laid there in bed and stared at the ceiling. Brenda had grown exactly one inch since she'd last been in this universe, leaving her at just over "hilariously short" as a height, or 5'3". Stephanie could look down on the top of her head if they were standing side by side. Her brown curly hair had grown longer, and she normally kept it up in a long ponytail that was a mass of curls on the good days.

Then there was Stephanie. She was tall, even beside her father; her first trip had put her firmly at 5'8" or so, with little to no hope of a growth spurt. Over the three years they'd been gone, she'd steadily grown taller, until she was 6' exactly. Of course, Steve still stood over her at 6'2", but he no longer towered as he had before. Her hair had lightened, too, turning from the dishwater blonde it'd formerly been to a light gold blonde that was lighter even than Steve's color.

Reminded, she rolled onto her side and looked at Steve, eyes narrowed against the darkness to try and see him. From the smallest beam of moonlight, sneaking through the curtains, she could see that his eyes were still open.

"Hey," she whispered, voice loud in the dead quiet. "Can't sleep?"

He shifted, rolled over so he could look at her. "No," he murmured, equally quiet. "You?"

She shook her head. "Too amped up," she said with a small smile. "How've you been?"

"All right," he said. "You?"

"Good. I graduated a few days ago," she said proudly. "Going to college."

"That's great!" he said, with real warmth behind his voice.

They lapsed back into comfortable silence once more. "Any luck with Bucky?" Stephanie finally asked, voice almost too quiet to hear.

There was silence for a moment, and then Steve sighed out slowly. "No," he said, voice heavy and painful.

"We'll look for him while I'm here," she said soothingly. "He's still out there. I know he is."

He didn't say anything. For a moment, she thought he'd fallen asleep again. Then-

"Stephanie?"

"Hm?"

"Every time you've been here- any of you- the world has changed forever, and there's some kind of battle, usually a very big one. Thor told us how Lena and Lori showed up, and then Malekith attacked. Tony mentioned Tasha turning up out of the blue and how the Mandarin made his move. You and Nathan appeared, and the Helicarriers went into the sea."

Stephanie mentally cursed. She'd almost forgotten how smart he was.

He paused. "Now you're all here. I'm assuming that Lena's on Earth as well, with Thor- wherever he is. Thor told us that Loki died, so I'm not sure if Lori's here or not. But the last time all of you were here was when the Chitauri attacked New York."

She held her breath and prayed.

"What's going to happen?"

She closed her eyes and swore more vigorously in her head. Of COURSE Steve would figure it out and want answers. S**t.

"Steve…" she murmured, trying to draw her thoughts together. "I don't- I can't- Ugh. Here's the thing about time travel- which is more or less what we do, every time we come here. We know the past, and then we get dumped into it. Ergo, time travel. Everything we do has consequences. Lori saved Coulson, when we were all here last. We know more or less what that altered- I see no problem in telling you that they created a spinoff TV show for Coulson and his team, called- unoriginally- Agents of SHIELD. There was an entire plotline that- well, I assume it doesn't exist in this place, or if it does it's so deep underground it's almost impossible to find. But it was important, very important, and thanks to Lori's interference it never happened. We have to think about the consequences of our words and actions."

She took a deep breath and said, "But, to answer your question, as best I can- expect more of the same from last time."

"So a big battle," he said.

"Yes."

"Lots of enemies?"

"Yeah."

"Portal in the sky?"

"One time deal, so far as I know."

"That's a relief." His voice was full of dry humor. She snorted.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more."

He nodded in the darkness. "You make good points," he said softly. "Go ahead and sleep. We leave early in the morning. I asked Fury, before he left- he said that he'd drop off some uniforms for you before we left in the morning."

"Yessir," Stephanie said, rolled over, and closed her eyes.

Little did she know that variations of the same conversation were going on around the entire house, with the amount of information imparted varying- by a lot...

* * *

Brenda woke up early. She laid in the bed for a few minutes, blinking at the ceiling, as her memories trickled back in, and she was flooded with a lovely warm feeling.

She was home, after so long away.

She carefully stood up and dusted off her clothes, making a note to see if Fury had brought her a change as well, and stepped over Bruce, who was asleep on the floor. She paused, turned around, and got a blanket off her bed, carefully draping it over him and retreating out the door.

She padded down the hall in her bare feet; the wood was cool against her bare toes, painted purple at their last sleepover, just starting to chip. She tugged the jacket closer against the early morning air as she went down the stairs, making sure to keep the stairs from creaking and waking anyone else.

She was surprised to find someone else was awake; there was the smell of toast in the air as she rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Laura Barton stood at the toaster, looking at a book in her hand as she waited for the toaster beside her to pop.

"Good morning," she greeted shyly,

Laura looked up, startled. "Hello," she said after a moment, a gentle smile turning the corner of her lips up. "How'd you sleep?"

"Well, thank you," Brenda said. "And you?"

"Well. Clint was up late talking to Claire," she said, turning as the toaster binged and popped up four pieces of perfectly golden toast. "He woke me up when he got back into bed."

"Sorry," Brenda said, slowly making her way forwards. "Can I help?"

"Sure," Laura said. "There's cereal in that cabinet." She pointed to one a few doors down and away from her current position. "Could you get the boxes out for me? I'd do it myself, but…" She gestured to her stomach.

Brenda smiled. "Of course." She went to the indicated cupboard and pulled it open, digging through the boxes and extracting a few. "You've got enough to feed an army here," she remarked, as she began putting box after box on the counter.

"The kids and Clint are an army," the woman said wryly.

Brenda laughed. "Good point. I've seen Claire eat and she puts away enough food for 2 people. Of course, she works it all off later, but it's impressive at the time."

Laura laughed as well and nodded. "Understood. When you're done, if you can get the plates and bowls out of that cabinet- we're using paper, because I don't think I want to think about the dishes for-" she did the math in her head- "11 people, including me."

"Don't blame you," Brenda said as she set the last box of cereal on the counter. "Plates are where again?"

"There." Laura pointed.

Brenda obediently checked the cabinet and pulled out a few stacks of paper plates and bowls. She found plastic utensils in a box behind them, and put that on the counter as well.

As she was placing it on the counter, her enhanced sense of hearing, courtesy of Mini-Hulk, caught the sound of footsteps overhead. "I think someone's awake," she remarked, as she looked one last time and found paper cups.

"Oh?" Laura asked, just before the stairs creaked.

"Yo!" Tasha crowed gleefully, as she landed on the floor and tromped towards them. "You're already awake?"

"Hard to, with your snoring," Brenda said immediately.

"Nah, I heard that too. Think it was Claire or Nathan? I'm thinking Nathan, but I'm not sure."

"Hm. I think it was Claire and you both." Brenda found the orange juice and milk in the fridge and put it on the counter beside the cups. "And I can't help but notice that you didn't list Steph."

"Because Stephanie is literal sunshine and I don't think she knows how to snore." Tasha snorted as she poured herself a half glass of orange juice and drained it in one gulp. "Besides, she was too far from my room for me to hear, even if she was snoring."

"Point," Brenda said, as the lightest footsteps possible sounded and Natasha appeared around the corner.

"Girls' morning?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the three young women already in the kitchen.

"Just luck of the draw, I suppose," Laura said with a warm smile. "Good morning, Nat."

"Morning," she said, as she walked in and got herself a cup of water. "By the way, did either of you know Nathan snores?"

"HA!" Tasha crowed gleefully. "Told you!"

More footsteps, and Bruce and Tony stumbled down the stairs one after the other. "Coffee," Tony groaned as he slumped against the counter and ran a hand over his stubble.

"Brewing," Laura said. She eyed Bruce speculatively and added, "But I may need to put on a second pot in a few."

"Yeah," Tasha said, as more footsteps sounded. "We go through coffee like Batman goes through parents."

Brenda, who'd been in the process of drinking some milk, spewed it out her nose, and Stephanie, who'd been turning the corner, positively crowed with laughter. "Oh, my gosh," she wheezed when she'd finally quit laughing enough to breathe. "Air! Air!"

"What?" Clint asked in complete confusion as he landed on the ground floor. "What's going on?"

"Tasha made a funny," Brenda said as she wiped milk off her nose.

"A bad funny," Stephanie retorted, as she swept past Tasha and grabbed a cup of orange juice off the counter. "Who else is up?"

"I checked on Claire and Nathan- they were both still crashed, but I woke them up. They should be down in a few," Clint said.

"And Steve?"

"Was right behind me. Don't know where he went to." Clint shrugged as he grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He drank half of it straight black and sighed.

The rest of the people in the house arrived in the next 2 minutes, and they scattered to eat. Each Young Avenger seemed to be sticking fairly close to their adult, Brenda noted- not that she was any exception. Her elbow bumped Bruce's every time she took a bite of cereal.

They finished breakfast just before the sun started to rise, and quickly tossed their dishes to go find their uniforms and change. True to form, Fury had left uniforms for them on the front deck. Each of them retrieved their outfit from the porch and retreated to various parts of the house to change.

Claire reverently held up the jacket Fury had provided for her. She was already dressed in black leggings and a dark purple tank top, that fit her form well and had no chance of catching on the bowstring and tearing. Her jacket, though- her jacket was a work of art. She wanted to hug the seamstress who'd put so many hours into creating it.

"You ready to go?" Nathan asked from the doorway. "Oh, hey- that looks awesome."

"I know, right?" Claire beamed at him.

They stared at it for a moment, before Nathan commented, "Y'know, it probably looks even better when you're wearing that."

She smiled at him sheepishly. "Yeah, you're probably right."

She slung it around her shoulders and tucked her arms through the sleeves. It settled on her frame lightly, and she rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms to test her range of movement. It allowed for a great range of motion, and she felt a smile stretch across her face.

Then she looked at Nathan, who was looking at her with a warm smile on his face and an emotion she could easily identify in his eyes. "Love you too," she murmured, as she zipped the jacket up and stuffed her hands into the pockets.

He took a step forwards and drew her into a hug, wrapping both arms around her as securely as possible. "You take care, all right?" he murmured.

"Me? I'm gonna be in the quinjet for the majority of the time. You're the one I'm really worried about." Reminded of Natasha's fate at the end of the battle in Seoul, Claire clung to him just that much tighter. "What are you going to do?" she whispered in a tiny voice.

"I don't know," he murmured into her hair. "I'll wing it. I'll be fine."

"You said that last year, about that massive project for the science fair."

"So I did."

"The science project that blew up in the face of the judges?"

"Hey, I just thought that dry ice would make better smoke if I added some water. How was I supposed to know it would explode?"

"I dunno, 10th grade chemistry?"

He laughed softly and drew away from her. "I'll be fine, Claire. It's sweet of you to worry."

"It's my job, you a**hole." She swatted his arm, just as Tasha shouted from down the hall.

"QUIT MAKING OUT! THE QUINJET LEAVES IN 5, WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!"

"I'm going to kill her someday," Claire growled as she left the room.

"I'll hide the body," Nathan said with a shrug as he followed her.


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, enjoy!

* * *

They dropped by New York to drop off Brenda and Bruce, and then Oslo to drop off Tasha and Tony. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they were moving, heading deeper into the internet hub of the world.

Tasha glanced over at Tony. He was deep in thought, or so he appeared to be. "So," she commented. "What are you expecting to find?"

He glanced at her. "I dunno," he returned. "What are you expecting to find?"

She shot him a glare. "Spoilers," she muttered, and dropped her sunglasses onto the bridge of her nose.

The woman leading them glanced back curiously at them. "You said you would be coming, but you did not mention the young woman," she said. It was almost a question.

"I'm a recent addition," Tasha said, giving her a Stark trademark smirk. "Sorry for the bother."

"It is no problem," the young woman said. She gestured to a doorway ahead of her. "Through here, Mr. Stark, and…"

"Miss Stark, but call me Tasha," she said easily. "You are?"

"Marit," the woman said, as she held the door. "My colleagues Tove and Morten are already here."

"Thank you," Tony said gallantly, bowing to Marit, who looked about ready to giggle. Tasha nodded and slipped through after him.

She knew who they would find, of course. She didn't know what to think, frankly. They all knew what was coming- the creation of a new Avenger, the discovery of the Infinity Gems. Her face fell into a half-puzzled frown, half-scowl as she thought.

"What's got you pulling that face, Mini-me?" Tony asked abruptly.

"Hm? Nothing much," she lied. "Just- who could possibly be a better hacker than _him_? He's a robot, he's connected to the internet, for Chris'sake. There's no hacker in the world that could do that."

"I know," he said grimly. "Even I'm not that good. But- hey. Whoever this hacker is, they're on our side."

"Point," she said, and perked up slightly. "And hey- we'll do our best to haul 'em out."

"Of course," Tony said, as they entered the center of the hub in Oslo. Tasha couldn't help but look around, shoving her sunglasses up to stare at the banks and banks of terminals, stretching out in every direction for what seemed like miles. Tony barely glanced around, instead beelining for the small terminal set up in the center.

She followed, after a moment to take in where, exactly, she was. Then she leaned her elbows on the edge of the table, watching as Tony watched the screens and typed away.

"What are you doing?" Tove asked, curious, as she moved up to Tony's right.

"Looking for our little hacker friend," he said, focused intently on the screen as he typed away.

"You know why we're here, correct?" Tasha asked the other woman sharply.

"No," she said slowly. "I do not."

"Good," Tasha said bluntly, then quickly amended, "It means that if something happens, you'll be less of a target for information."

Tove nodded and clutched her clipboard a little closer to her chest.

"A hacker who's faster than Ultron? He could be anywhere. And as this is the center of everything, I'm just a guy looking for a needle in the world's biggest haystack," Tony said.

"So," Morten asked, "how do you find it?"

Tony glanced at him over the tops of his sunglasses. "Pretty simple-" typing even faster, if it was possible- "you bring a magnet."

He hummed a snatch of song and half-sang, "Oh, I'm decrypting nuclear codes and you don't want me to. Come and get me..."

* * *

Lena followed Selvig and Thor through the cave. It was a bit of a tight fit, especially now that she'd grown an extra inch or two and bulked out in muscle mass. However, if it was tight for her, she told herself, she couldn't imagine how tight it must be for Thor. It consoled her a bit.

"This is it," Selvig said abruptly. The tunnel's ceiling rose and the walls peeled outwards, revealing a non-descript room with a pool of water in the center, and steps leading down to it. "The Water of Sight."

"In every realm, there's a reflection," Thor explained to Lena, who simply nodded. She knew, of course. "If the water spirits accept me, I can return to my dream and find what I missed."

She nodded and accepted his jacket as he peeled it off. "I will be here," she said simply. "May you stay safe."

He nodded and finished stripping, ending up in just his underwear. His clothes were piled on the steps, along with a towel for when he finished with the Water.

"The men who enter that water... The legends don't end well," Selvig warned.

Lena shot him a glance as Thor readied himself. "Then I suppose that it is good that he is not a mortal man," she said simply, before returning her gaze to Thor.

He took a deep breath and slowly set foot in the water, walking down the steps one by one. Lena held her breath and slowly crouched down, gripping his jacket tightly in one hand.

For a long moment, nothing happened.

Then, abruptly, Thor threw his head back to the ceiling- and roared.

Lightning danced over the Water's surface. Some of it lashed out and grabbed at Lena. She let it, for the most part. Any that were too big for her to handle she shied away from.

Selvig looked astonished, and a little afraid, as Thor opened his eyes and looked over at Lena. She looked back, unafraid.

He reached out his hand to her. She grasped his forearm with her hand and held on.

Lightning raced along his arm and onto her body, leaving scorch marks on her clothing. She breathed in and out, and closed her eyes.

The Infinity Stones. The endgame.

They lay before her, hovering in the air. She watched, silent. Thor stood beside her, in full battle armor.

"The Infinity Stones," he said quietly. "But I suppose you knew that."

She nodded. There was no point in hiding it.

"What can you tell me?" he asked.

She took a deep breath- and began to speak.

* * *

Nathan leaned against the roof of the quinjet, watching everyone inside silently. Steve and Stephanie stood next to each other at the back of the quinjet, murmuring softly to each other in tones so low he couldn't hear them. Clint and Claire sat at the front of the quinjet; Claire leaned against the back of Clint's chair, talking to him, slightly louder than the Rogers. Natasha, on the other hand, stood across the quinjet from him.

He scanned the two Young Avengers once again. Stephanie wore an outfit so similar to Steve's they were almost identical from behind- so long as her hair was up. She was also more slim than he was; her shoulders were less broad. She wore the jumpsuit well, chin lifted, shoulders rolled back, in an easy stance that was almost parade rest. Her hair fell down her back in a waterfall of blonde, silky smooth and clean. He would admit that she was beautiful, but it was Claire that still held his heart.

She, herself, looked stunning, in his opinion. The coat Fury had provided was, again, similar to the one that Clint now wore. The high collar tucked under her chin, and it ended around her knees. The color was more of a dark purple-pink than he'd thought originally, just a few shades lighter than the colors on Clint's coat. The sleeves half covered her hands, with built in arm guards and finger covers. She turned a bit, caught his eye, and smiled warmly at him.

He smiled back, just for a moment, then turned his attention back on himself. His outfit was similar to Natasha's, with a black suit and red neon lines running up his sides and down his arms. The Widow's Bite he had were red lighted, instead of blue like hers. His cat suit wasn't tight- thank God- but it still fit close enough that he'd have no problem doing acrobatic stunts and fighting.

Speaking of Natasha...

He caught her eye briefly and looked away again. She continued to watch him as he stared at the floor, the ceiling, out the front, and generally anywhere but at her.

"C'mere," she said abruptly, very low, and walked to the central box. He glanced at her, away, and back again, hastily stepping forwards to lean against the other side of the crate. "Two things. First, quit acting like I'll kill you if you look at me wrong. Second, I want you to stay in the quinjet with Claire and Clint."

"What?!" he almost exploded.

"Voice down, Romanoff," she ordered. "Yes. Here's why. I need eyes in the sky, eyes specifically dedicated to me. I want you to be watching for Ultron and his minions- something tells me there'll be a lot of them."

Nathan nodded wordlessly.

"Good. Keep an eye on me and scan for any incoming. Give me a heads up on them. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

Natasha smiled, a razor-thin smile, and straightened from her position leaning on the box. "Good."

"Hey Cap, we're coming into a drop zone. Might want to get on a parachute for this drop," Clint called.

"Yeah, Dad, no soft landing if you forget one this time," Stephanie joked, eyes sparkling as she looked over at him. He laughed softly and shook his head as he grabbed a parachute and handed another one to her.

"Yeah, yeah. Suit up, smart-aleck."

She did so and double checked the straps before walking to the back of the quinjet and looking back at him. "Ready to go," she reported.

"Drop zone approaching. Doors opening," Claire reported as she hit the button. "And drop zone in 3… 2…"

Steve glanced at Stephanie. "Age before beauty," she said, grinning wickedly. "After you."

He groaned and jumped out. She followed right behind. Nathan glanced at Natasha, who was grinning just as much as Stephanie had been.

"Now there's a girl after my own heart," she said as she straightened and crossed her arms.

Nathan laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

Oh shoot.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avengers. I do, however, own the Young Avengers in this version.

* * *

Stephanie landed right behind her father on the rooftop, eyes quickly casting over the scene. "There's the site," Steve said quietly, gesturing to the U-Gin Genetic Research Lab in the distance. To the others, he said, "Two minutes. Stay close."

"Right behind you, Cap," Clint said.

Stephanie undid the straps that kept her parachute on her back and rolled her shoulders, waiting as Steve balled both of them up and tossed them into a corner of the roof. Then he turned and looked over the edge of the building.

"About a story's drop," he reported. "You ready?"

She pulled her helmet up and tucked her hair into it, checking her shield quickly. Then she nodded at him.

He nodded back, turned, and launched himself over the edge. She followed right behind.

They landed one after the other. Steve tucked and rolled to absorb the landing impact, and Stephanie followed his lead. Once on their feet again, they both took off running towards the U-Gin building.

Anyone watching could see the difference in their free-running styles. Steve was grounded, more often than not- he mostly stayed on the ground, running, only dodging obstacles when he had to. Stephanie was more fluid, flowing over things in their path- the occasional table, boxes, that sort of thing- instead of going around. He wove around things. She went over or under them.

But the end result was still the same- they arrived at the U-Gin lab at the same time. Ultron had obviously been there shortly before; doors stood open. People lay on the floors, shot to death. And near the center of the lab lay Doctor Cho.

Stephanie murmured a curse as she dropped to her knees and skidded the final yard to the woman's side. She had a pad pressed to the bloody wound on her chest, close to her shoulder. Stephanie relieved her as Steve crouched at her side.

"Doctor Cho?" he asked quickly.

"He's uploading himself- into the body," Helen Cho gasped out, wincing as Stephanie kept up the pressure on her wound.

"Where?" Steve asked quickly.

Helen shook her head. "The real power is inside the Cradle," she whispered. "The gem- its power- is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get it to Stark."

"First we have to find it," he muttered, glancing at Stephanie. She removed the pad and grabbed a fresh one off the counter, checking the wound.

"It looks very painful, but I think you'll live," she said.

"Then go- both of you." Helen looked at both Rogers with pain-filled eyes, and winced as Stephanie reapplied pressure. "I'll be fine."

Stephanie nodded at her and stood up once she was sure Helen had a firm grasp on the pad on her shoulder. Steve was already making his way back out of the lab. She sprinted to catch up.

"You guys catch that?" Steve asked as she caught up to him.

"Yep," Claire said. "Looking now."

Natasha spoke up after a moment. Claire turned to see her on a tablet that hung from the ceiling. "I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest. That could be them."

Claire leaned over Clint's shoulder as he scanned the roads carefully. She could see Steve and Stephanie as they emerged from the lab, standing on a small balcony overlooking the city. Her eyes drifted away, continuing to canvas the roads visually.

"There," Clint said abruptly. "That's a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap, Patriot. On the bridge."

He paused for a moment, turning on a filter that showed the people in the truck. "It's them," he said after a moment. Claire leaned over his shoulder and counted figures as he continued, "I count 3 with the cradle, 1 in the cab. I could take out the driver-"

"Negative," Steve cut in. "If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron."

"Cheers," Stephanie murmured. "Let's move."

Claire watched as Steve and Stephanie sprinted towards the bridge. It was right next to the U-Gin building; they only had to wait. Over the comms, she heard Steve murmur, "On my mark. Three, two-"

They leapt off as one and landed perfectly on top of the trailer. Claire couldn't help her grin as she watched the two of them, mirroring each other perfectly.

"I'm going to get inside," Steve said as he stood and paced towards the back. Stephanie nodded, still kneeling on the top of the truck as she waited.

Just as Steve was about to hop down and open the door, it blasted open, blowing him backwards and away from the back. He grunted and hung on, using his feet to swing himself back in. His helmet slammed into the other door, just as Ultron blasted the hinges on the door he clung to and fired him into the air. He flailed for a moment, while Stephanie tried not to giggle, and landed on the door, which was now connected at the bottom hinge and dragged on the pavement.

"Well, he's definitely unhappy! We're gonna try and keep it that way!"

"You're no match for him, Cap, even the two of you together," Clint warned, turning the Quinjet to follow him.

"Thanks, Barton," Steve groused in return.

Claire, for her part, watched Stephanie creep back towards the edge of the truck and activated her comm.

"Ok, Patriot. Feet punch in three- now!" she ordered.

As soon as Claire spoke, Stephanie grabbed the edge of the truck and kicked her feet off. Just before Ultron blasted Steve, she jammed both booted feet into his chest. Claire didn't have to be there to see the grin on her friend's face.

"Good morning!" she crowed gleefully. "Player 3 has entered the game!"

Claire cackled with laughter.

Steve, in the meantime, had managed to get back onto the roof. Stephanie scurried back up dexterously, Ultron hot on her heels, and landed beside Steve firmly, shield on her arm.

"You know what's in that cradle?" Ultron asked them, as he hovered just over the back of the truck. "The power to make real change- and it terrifies you."

"I wouldn't call it a comfort," Steve retorted, before Stephanie was off on Ultron's left and Steve was on his right.

If robots had a dominant hand, Ultron's was his right. He focused his attack on Steve at first, obviously figuring Stephanie to be the lesser threat. He would be right, Claire thought- but he'd gravely underestimated the threat that Stephanie still was.

As Steve kept his attention, Stephanie slipped smoothly around to his back. She took a quick breath, raised her shield, and jammed it firmly into what would've been a spinal cord on a human. Ultron roared in agony and batted Steve's shield away, turning to face Stephanie.

This was also a mistake. Claire cackled as Steve got an arm around Ultron's throat and constricted. While Ultron didn't need to breathe, it still constricted his movement. Stephanie dodged his wild punch and put her body behind a shield thrust that seriously harmed his arm.

Claire was distracted by Clint moving the Quinjet into place over a busy highway. "We got an opening," he told Natasha. She walked to the center box in the middle of the Quinjet. Nathan stayed where he was, and nodded to her when she glanced at him. "Four... three... Give 'em hell."

She swung onto the high-tech motorcycle and revved the engine. Clint smacked a button that opened the bottom of the Quinjet. Natasha vanished out the bottom, and the doors closed behind her.

"Hey, can I get a window?" Nathan asked.

"I could, but you'll see better from up front," she said as Clint lifted off, away from the ground. "C'mon."

He sighed and paced to the front of the Quinjet. Since Claire stood over Clint's right shoulder, he took the left and stared at the road.

"I'm always picking up after you boys," Natasha murmured, as she leaned over on her bike and reached out a hand. Steve's shield slotted perfectly into place and she whipped it away from the ground. The bike sped up, and she approached the truck at high speeds, weaving in and out of the traffic around her.

"They're heading under the overpass. I've got no shot," Clint said. Claire narrowed her eyes, watching closely. Her eyes never left Steve and Stephanie, still double teaming Ultron.

"Which way?" Natasha asked urgently, weaving in and out of traffic with ease.

"Hard right..." Clint hesitated. Nathan spoke up at the same time he did. "Now."

Natasha smoothly turned down another street. The Quinjet followed her, close behind.

Up on the truck, Claire tensed. Ultron had Steve in a tight hold, and Stephanie was fighting off a second minion. She kept darting glances at him, nervous- terrified, honestly. Claire's hand on Clint's chair tightened.

Then Natasha was pulling onto the road and calmly laid her bike down, slotting perfectly into place under a semi. She straightened as she cleared the truck and drew up beside the truck, shield in hand. Steve reached out- she threw the shield. He caught it and jammed it into Ultron's arm, forcing the robot away from him.

Stephanie nodded to Natasha, smiling at her for just a moment before she refocused her efforts onto the minion. Natasha tried to keep pace with the truck, but found herself forced away as Ultron used some power to pull a chunk of asphalt out of the earth and stop her dead in her tracks. She revved the engine and shot onto the sidewalk, racing along at a fast pace, dodging pedestrians as she did so.

"Out of the way! Coming through!" she shouted, weaving through people and up a flight of stairs. "Sorry, coming through!"

Nathan felt his lips twist in a wry smile. That turned into a full laugh as he heard her call "Beep beep!" at some people in her way.

"Can you draw off the guards?" she called.

"Let's find out. You two, grab onto something," Clint ordered. "And not each other!"

Claire stuck her tongue out at him and darted to the aft gunner's seat, strapping herself in. "Clear," she reported.

Clint didn't wait for Nathan's response before he unleashed a hail of bullets on Ultron. Stephanie ducked slightly; Steve took a step or two back. Ultron growled and stared up at the quinjet.

At his unspoken command, the two robots tasked with guarding the Cradle took off out of the back and shot up towards the quinjet. One grabbed onto the gun, the other onto the top, and Clint turned the quinjet back, forcing it to fly straight up.

Claire growled and risked a few shots at the robot clinging to the Quinjet's underside. "No, don't" Clint called quickly and she stopped. "Brace!"

He sent the Quinjet into a spiral upwards, throwing both robots off after a few spins. They paused for only a moment or two, before shaking themselves and turning to go back towards the truck. "They're heading back towards you," Clint reported, turning the Quinjet back around towards the battle. "So whatever you're gonna do- do it now."

Meanwhile, Steve and Ultron had continued their deadly dance, each landing hits in turn. Stephanie was forced out of the fight for the most part, in fear of hitting her father with a misplaced shot. She growled angrily and risked a throw. Her aim was true- her shield hit Ultron hard enough to send him staggering, allowing Steve to get in a punch that threw him into a bridge support.

She realized what was coming a split second before Steve did. "Dad, down!" she shouted, but it was too late to do much.

Steve blocked Ultron's lasers with his shield, but was unprepared for the robot to pile-drive him. They flew through the air, as Stephanie ducked underneath them, and crashed through the side of a train beside them.

She swore and launched herself after them.


	5. Chapter 5

Shortest chapter so far, but pretty action-packed, and includes the introduction of two of my favorite superheroes from Age of Ultron. Enjoy!

* * *

Stephanie landed hard inside the train car, immediately pinpointing two major things.

One: Steve and Ultron, duking it out in the middle of the train car.

Two: A heckuva lot of innocent Korean commuters in the crossfire.

She muttered a curse as she tucked and rolled to her left. Steve smashed into the back wall not a second later, set himself, and raised his shield up just in time for Ultron to pummel it.

"I'm going in, Cap, Patriot. Think you can keep him occupied?"

Steve, taking a moment's rest in a corner, sighed heavily and asked, "What do you think we've been doing?" before forcing himself back to his feet and into the fray once more.

The civilians caught in the crossfire were screaming, cowering in the worst possible places as the battle raged. "GET DOWN!" Stephanie roared, as loud as she possibly could.

"How many of those people speak English?" Claire wondered in her ear.

"Not- the effffffffffff-ing time- for smart-assery, Claire," Stephanie growled, as she skidded to a halt in front of a young woman and raised her shield just in time to deflect a stray blast from the robot.

"Oooooh, language," Nathan teased.

She responded in a very, very rude fashion and tugged the woman aside. "Here," she told her, and pointed under a seat, just under where she'd formerly been sitting. The woman nodded, shaking horribly, and crawled underneath the seat, hugging her bag to her chest.

Satisfied she was safe, Stephanie moved on. She focused on mothers and children first, hiding them under benches and near doors, ready to get out at a moment's notice.

A pained grunt caught her attention as she was helping a businessman find a safe spot. "DAD!" she shrieked, and whirled, throwing her shield as hard as she could. It slammed into Ultron's back, and he groaned, dropping the assault on Steve and turning on her.

"Dad, rest a sec. I got this," she ordered. Something feral sparked in her eyes, and a dark grin spread over her face- all teeth and no smile. "I think it's time someone learned a lesson about being nice to their elders, don't you?"

Ultron didn't dignify her with a response, instead choosing to fire a blast at her face. She dodged it and jumped over the one he directed at her feet, vaulting over a seat in her way and pushing off the back of the seat behind it to send her over his head. She landed and slammed her shield into his back again, right at the spot she'd hit before. Ultron made an inhuman sound of pain.

"Oh, you don't like being hit there? Well, maybe you should stop doing that to other people, then!" Steph called as she ducked fluidly under an arm sweep that dented a metal pole.

"Why do you talk so much?" Ultron growled, as he tried and failed to get in a hit on her.

"Because-" and Stephanie ducked under a fist to the shoulder- "I'm fresh as a newly-sprung spring daisy." She bounced back to her feet and beamed at him. "What, getting sleepy?"

His response was to try and bowl her over.

She rolled back and started to flip to her feet, but just as she did, Ultron finally got the upper hand. He planted one foot securely on her chest and pressed down. She gasped as her chest compressed painfully, jamming her shield into his ankle, but he only grimaced and kept up the relentless pressure.

"STEPHANIE!" Steve roared, and came to his feet. Something twinged in her chest. Stephanie bit her lip and arched her back as hard as she could, forcing her spine away from the ground to give herself some room to _breathe_ -

Ultron went flying from a blue-and-silver blur. Stephanie gasped as the pressure on her chest vanished and she could breathe again. Steve was there in a split second, grabbing her shoulders. "Are you ok?" he demanded.

She swallowed and nodded, reaching one hand out to him. He took it and pulled her to her feet, tucking her into his side as he watched the standoff between the Maximoff twins and Ultron.

Pietro skidded to a halt at the end of the car. Ultron growled and stormed towards him, only for Wanda to twist the racks that bordered the ceiling into bars, glowing red with power and blocking him from advancing on her twin. He whirled, staring in shock at her. She looked a little afraid, the red glow around her palms dimming as she lowered them.

"Please," Ultron said, and he almost sounded… sorry. "Don't do this."

Wanda's voice was thick with hate as she snapped, "What choice do we have?"

Ultron turned and blasted four lasers at Pietro. The young man saw them coming and dodged them in a blur as they decimated Wanda's protections. The lasers fired all the way through the front of the train as he kicked the one remaining door down and flew out.

"We lost him!" Stephanie shouted, grabbing the side of the door frame and peering upwards. "He's heading your way!"

* * *

The four assassins had by no means been idle.

Natasha vaulted off the bike, into the back of the truck. "That was a nice bike. I would've liked a turn riding it," Claire complained as a car clipped it and broke it to pieces.

"Ask Stark to find you another one, I'm sure he's got a few lying around," Natasha said as she crouched beside the Cradle.

The trailer jolted. She rolled backwards and grappled for purchase on the floor.

"Natasha, you're airborne," Nathan warned.

"Kind of- figured that out," she retorted, as she scrambled back up to sit beside the Cradle.

Clint pulled the quinjet into position behind the flying trailer. "The package is airborne. I have a clean shot," he said, flicking a cover off one of the levers overhead. Claire glanced at it- it was the safety for the minigun on the bottom of the Quinjet.

"Negative, I am still in the truck," Natasha said quickly, right as Nathan said, "She's still in there!"

He did a double-take, peering closer. "What the hell are you-"

"Just be ready. I'm sending the package to you."

"All right. How do you want me to receive it?" He flicked the cover back down on the mini-gun safety switch.

"Ah… you might wish you hadn't asked that."

She worked on cutting the straps that held the Cradle to the trailer until Stephanie shouted her warning. The last one gave; she slapped an explosive charge onto the back of the trailer, and grabbed onto the Cradle as it started to slide.

Claire and Nathan looked at each other. "Are we going to do this?" she mouthed. He nodded once.

As one, they stood up and walked to the back of the Quinjet, waiting as the Cradle launched out of the trailer, Natasha clinging on for dear life. Clint tilted the plane downwards as the Cradle hit the ramp- just as Ultron appeared and reached for Natasha's leg-

And Nathan unloaded a full clip of hollow point bullets into Ultron.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Ultron roared with anger as the bullets hit his face and torso, but his grip on Natasha's foot remained strong. Nathan lunged and grabbed Natasha's hands, but the robot was stronger, and he lost his grip on her arm and fell backwards. "Nat!" he shouted, scrambling towards the edge of the open back, but she was gone. Claire slammed a palm onto the button that closed the back.

"Cap, do you see Nat?" Clint asked urgently.

"If you have the package, get it to Stark!" Steve shouted. "Go!"

"Do you have eyes on Nat?!" he demanded, as Claire hauled Nathan to his feet and they sprinted to the nose of the Quinjet.

"Go!" Steve repeated.

Clint cursed, but banked the Quinjet around, glancing up at the two people standing beside him. Nathan's shoulders were slumped; he pressed one hand up to his eyes and rubbed them. Claire put one hand on each of their shoulders, face ashen.

"Let's go," Clint muttered, and put the metaphorical pedal to the floor.


	6. Chapter 6

And we're back.

So, I have a challenge for you guys. My friend, who is also the original Lori, took a look at the Author's Cut of Aphelion and had some comments to add. So, if you're interested, I'd be willing to release the Author's Cut- _with all comments._ However, in order for me to do that, you need to get Aphelion to 50 reviews. Trust me- it's full of shitposting and such. I laughed so hard I cried.

So, remember, 50 reviews, and you get the Author's Cut of Aphelion. I think you guys can do it.

Enjoy!

* * *

Steve free-ran all the way to the front of the train, where he found the conductor slumped over his controls. Stephanie arrived beside him a moment later and breathed out a curse, pointing to the end of the tracks ahead of them.

"I see it," he muttered.

They couldn't do anything while they waited for confirmation of the Cradle. Stephanie slumped against Steve, resting her head on his shoulder and one hand on her aching ribs while she waited for the word. He let her pause for just a minute, before telling her, "We should go help the civilians."

Together they jogged back down the train. Stephanie flinched as the train jolted and a high-pitched squeal alerted them to the fact that they'd run out of line. "Cap, do you see Nat?" Clint demanded, right as they reached the Maximoff twins. Stephanie cursed under her breath.

"If you have the package, get it to Stark!" Steve ordered.

"Do you have eyes on Nat?!"

"Go!" he repeated, not waiting for confirmation. He looked at Pietro, who stood next to Wanda. "Civilians in our path."

The Sokovian nodded and darted out the side of the train.

"Can you stop this thing?" Steve asked Wanda.

She stared at him, eyes narrowed against the wind.

"Go," Stephanie told Steve. "I'll talk to her."

"Be careful," he said in response, and ran for the front of the train.

Stephanie swept the loose tendrils of hair out of her face and turned to look at Wanda. "You can do this," she said earnestly. "I believe in you. You're stronger than you think you are, I promise."

They broke through a solid brick wall; both young women flinched. Stephanie reached out one hand, palm open and up, to her. "Trust me," she said, speaking loudly to be heard. "You can do this."

Wanda swallowed, nodded, and thrust her hands forwards. Red lights streaked from her fingertips, vanishing beneath the floor. Stephanie heard the squeal of brakes as her magic set to work, and smiled.

The train began to slow. Wanda grimaced and twisted her hands more; the squealing grew louder. Finally, the train came to a halt, in the middle of the street.

"Go, go, get off!" Stephanie called, gesturing for people to start moving out of the car. Wanda sagged behind her; she caught the other woman with one arm and used the other to gesture people out.

At some point, Wanda vanished; Stephanie looked up from assisting a young mother off the train to see her approach her brother, leaning against a wall, gasping for air.

"Breathe slower," she advised kindly as she approached. "And deep, deep breaths. It should help some."

They both jolted and straightened abruptly, eyeing Stephanie with wariness. Stephanie smiled warmly at them, both hands rising to show them she meant them no harm.

"I'm fine," Pietro told Wanda. "I just.. need a minute." He sat down heavily on a small stool.

"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve said coldly. Stephanie gave him a disapproving look as he approached.

"The Cradle," Wanda demanded, ignoring his words for the moment. "Did you get it?"

"Stark will take care of it," he said, attempting to be soothing. Stephanie bit her lip and turned away.

"No, he won't," she retorted.

Pietro glanced between the three of them.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy," Steve said, but his words sounded hollow to Stephanie's ears.

"He will do anything to make things right," Wanda said.

A look of dawning realization rose in Steve's eyes. He turned away slightly. "Stark, come in. Stark." A pause. "Anyone on comms?"

"Guys?" Stephanie added her two cents. "Are you there?"

"Ultron can't see the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda murmured. "Where do you think he gets that from?"

Stephanie and Steve exchanged worried glances. "We gotta move," she said.

"One moment," Steve said to the twins, and pulled Stephanie aside. "What about them?" he murmured, once they were out of earshot.

"I think they'll be…"

Steve raised one eyebrow at her carefully crafted statement.

"Oh." She took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes. "I trust them. WE trust them."

He looked over at the Maximoffs as they huddled together, watching the Rogers with wary eyes. His attention returned to her. "I trust you," he muttered. "Please don't make me regret it."

"Oh, trust me," she whispered grimly to herself as they turned around. "We won't."

* * *

Stephanie kept a close eye on the twins as they made their way to the airport. Unfortunately, it looked like there would be no quick way back to the States, as Clint had taken their ride back to Avengers Tower. They'd spent the past hour getting into civilian clothes and finding a cab to the airport, and another hour sitting in traffic. She sighed and rolled her neck as she swung out of the cab and prepared to spend hours waiting some more- and that just to get through customs.

Abruptly, her cell phone went off. She frowned and reached for it to turn it off; then her eyes widened, as she recognized the custom ringtone.

"Lori?!" she almost shrieked as soon as her phone touched her ear.

"Sheesh! Calm down!" Lori's familiar voice said. Stephanie could hear the grin in her tone and had to refrain from crying with happiness.

"I thought you didn't make it here," she said instead.

"Well, technically, I didn't make it 'here'. I made it to Asgard."

"So-" she lowered her voice- "he's alive?"

"Well, I'm here. What do you think?" Lori snorted. "So where are you at right now?"

"The Seoul airport. Trying to get back to New York before Stark fricks up spectacularly again."

"Ah. Sounds perf. All right, Heimdall, light it up!" she called to someone else.

Stephanie's eyes widened. "Lori, what-"

"Beam me up, Scotty!" Lori crowed, and the next thing they knew, she was standing right next to Stephanie, a very small circle burned into the pavement under her feet. She turned her phone off, grinning ear to ear as Stephanie squealed and threw both arms around her best friend.

"Lori?" Steve asked in consternation as Lori returned the hug gleefully, squeezing Stephanie as tight as she could. Steph winced and loosened her hold, tapping to be let out. Lori released and she wheezed as she put one hand on her ribs.

"What did you do?" Lori asked, in a dangerous tone of voice.

"Ultron decided to put a carbon footprint in my chest," Stephanie said. "If it wasn't for Pietro, I'd probably be a lot flatter than I am right now." Her eyes danced with laughter as Lori snickered.

That was also the cue for the twins and Steve to approach and huddle with them. "Good to see you again," Steve told Lori, and held out a hand to shake. She took it and shook twice, smiling at him, before turning to the twins.

"And you would be the Maximoffs. Lori Lokisdoitter," she said by way of introduction, and held out her hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. If you want to skip the plane trip, by the way, I can get us close to home in a fraction of the time it'd take to fly."

"You're asking me if I want to skip a 24-hour slog through airports and airplanes alike?" Stephanie asked incredulously. "Whatever they say, I'm going with you." She linked arms with Lori, grinning at the other girl.

Asgard had changed Lori- in a good way, in Stephanie's opinion. The young woman was around 5'11", like Stephanie, long black hair loose and falling to her waist. She wore a simple green dress that reached her knees, with black tights underneath and black low-heeled boots. Her jewelry was gold, her leather purse black with gold trim. She wore heavy eyeliner and natural lipstick. Her green eyes danced as she tucked Stephanie's hand into the crook of her arm and raised one perfectly curved eyebrow at the other three.

"And you?" she asked.

"I trust you," Steve said to Stephanie. He nodded to Lori, who smiled back, before directing her attention to the Maximoffs.

"And you?"

Wanda looked up at Pietro. They seemed to have a silent conversation, before turning to look at the other three. "All right," Wanda said. "But how would we be travelling?"

Lori smiled. "The tunnels between worlds, of course. Loki-" Her face fell. Stephanie recognized it as a carefully controlled facade. To the unpracticed eye, she appeared to pull herself together again and smile tremulously. "Before he… died… he taught me about the secret passageways between realms. I can take us along one that's Midgard-specific- it should land us in the Northeast, though maybe not precisely in New York."

Stephanie nodded and patted her friend's hand with a smile. "All right, then. Where do we leave from, and when do we arrive?"

"We leave from that alley there, and we should be there in 5 minutes, if everything holds up. Now, come on!" And Lori led the way to the portal.


	7. Chapter 7

And now to meet the final New Avenger.

I know it's finals week for some of you, including me, and it will be finals week in the next few weeks for the rest of you. I'll keep posting regularly, because this brings me as much joy as I hope it does you. Besides, it's a way to take our collective minds off finals.

Remember, 50 reviews to get Author's Cut of this!

Enjoy.

* * *

Stephanie and Lori strode into the lab, just a beat behind Steve. Wanda and Pietro were behind her, as well. Stephanie held up one hand and gestured for them to cling to the shadows for a moment.

Tasha caught her eye as Steve went straight into needling Stark. Steph raised an eyebrow. Tasha nodded curtly. Brenda, glancing between them, bit her lip.

Stephanie took her own advice and hugged the shadows as she sidled over to Brenda and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "The Maximoffs are here," she murmured. A subtle elbow in her side made her glare at Lori as she added, "And Lori too- obviously."

"What's the plan?" Tasha muttered as she drew closer. The three adults were uncaring of their conversation. The Maximoffs had taken note.

"Pietro yanks the cord, then gets the floor shot out from under him," Stephanie said slowly, brow creased in concentration. "That sets off the others. Steve throws his shield and Tony summons his blaster. Bruce grabs Wanda and keeps an arm around her throat. Then Thor shows up and-"

At that moment, Quicksilver took off around the lab. He yanked the cord to the Cradle and held it in the air as he stopped. "There. All done," he said with a casual smirk and shrug.

"What do we do?!" Tasha hissed. Stephanie glanced around- not seeing Wanda's gaze on the four young women- and pulled Brenda out of the light.

"Bren, I'll try to get between Bruce and Wanda. You help if I can't hold him off. Tash, you try and keep collateral down. Lori, keep them from exploding absolutely everything. We stay away from the Cradle. Oh- and expect Lena to show soon."

There were curt nods from the other three to show they understood, and Stephanie separated back to her father's side-

As the glass shattered beneath Pietro, and he fell.

"PIETRO!" Wanda screamed with fear, and rushed forwards to get to her brother. Steve threw his shield, at the same time that Bruce went for Wanda. Stephanie smoothly stepped into his path.

"Get out of the way," he said, voice low and dangerous. Stephanie met his dangerous green eyes with her own calm blue ones.

"Sorry," she said calmly. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

He moved to go around her, but she smoothly swept to the side and blocked him. Wanda tried to slip around her and run to her brother- one arm snaked out and caught her.

"Stay behind me, Wanda," Stephanie said quietly. "For a while longer. Stand down."

She wisely obeyed, stepping closer to Stephanie's back. Steph herself grasped her shield, pulled it off her back, and held it loosely in her hands.

"I won't hurt you," she told Bruce evenly, "but I won't let you past either."

Meanwhile, Tasha and Brenda were both keeping one eye on the situation and the other eye on the quickly devolving fight between Steve and Tony. Tony'd summoned his gauntlet and was firing back, as Steve raced for him and threw a punch. They glanced at each other; Tasha summoned her own gauntlets and waited, circling like a wolf as Brenda observed the goings-on warily. Lori had a shield up, invisible to all but her, encasing the Cradle as she waited for the arrival of who she knew would be coming.

This was all before thunder cracked above them, and the Tower trembled.

Recognizing what was coming, Stephanie's eyes widened. "DOWN!" she roared, pivoted, threw an arm around Wanda's shoulders, and dropped to the ground, pulling the other woman with her.

Glass and metal shattered, as Thor blasted through a window or two. To none of the Young Avengers' surprise, Lena stepped away as soon as he landed and strode towards the Cradle. Satisfied that it was more or less safe, Stephanie slowly rose, though she gently wrapped an arm around Wanda's shoulders, just in case something went off-script.

Thor, though, was a one-track mind. Lori dropped her shield swiftly as he leapt onto the Cradle and raised Mjolnir into the air, gathering lightning at a phenomenal rate. Lena nodded to those assembled and followed, circling to stand at the head of the Cradle. She raised both hands in fists; lightning crackled around her as well, leaping from fist to fist.

Lena was taller now, standing at 6' herself. She wore clothing similar to Thor's, with a red flowing skirt that reached her knees, black tights underneath, and a navy blue shirt with the same 6 metal circles connected to each other. She, too, had a cape, and it brushed the heels of her boots.

When Thor had fully charged Mjolnir, he brought the hammer down, pointing at the Cradle. Lena opened her hands flat and thrust them at the Cradle. All the static electricity she'd gathered shot off her fingers in continuous bolts, cracking as it hit the Cradle time and time again. It was a brilliant light show. Stephanie shielded her eyes with the shield.

Then, as abruptly as the light show started, it cut off. Thor stepped backwards and landed heavily on the lab floor. Steve looked at him and opened his mouth to say something-

The doors to the Cradle exploded outwards, with a great force. Wanda flinched back- they all did. Thor reflexively swung Mjolnir as the being in the Cradle rocketed out, and fired him through one of the only intact panes of glass towards the front of the Tower.

Stephanie watched, a tiny, tiny smile dancing at the corners of her mouth. She slowly put her shield away and guided Wanda Maximoff to the stairs that lead to the main living area. She wasn't alone- Thor and Steve both beat her there and stopped, staring at the red man as he stared at the outside world.

Stephanie stepped away as Quicksilver raced up, stopping at his sister's side. She didn't look at them or notice the looks they exchanged. Her attention was solely on the Vision, hovering at the window, staring out at the night sky.

Brenda crept over and nudged her. Lori glided to her side, taking a quiet place beside her. Tasha was less quiet about it, socking her in the arm and mouthing violently at her. "IT'S HIM!" she mouthed. "IT'S HIM!"

Stephanie nudged her back and allowed a tiny smile to creep over her lips. Her arms folded in front of her chest, and for the first time, she let her shoulders relax.

Lena joined them after a minute and gave them all hugs. She, too, was silent, saying nothing.

Once that was done, and Lena had given the Maximoff twins an encouraging smile, they returned their attention to the Vision, still silent at the window. One hand had risen up to press a palm flat towards the glass.

Then, slowly, he turned, and floated down to the ground. He landed, gently, and cast his eyes over everyone. Lena nodded just a bit, watching him with calm, clear eyes. Her cape tickled the back of her calves; she gently kicked it back, not taking her eyes off him.

Vision caught her movement in the otherwise silent and still room, as green flickered over his skin and created a jumpsuit of sorts.

Her eyes drifted up to the golden gem, glittering on his forehead. The Mind Stone, she thought.

And wasn't Lori pissed that she'd handled an Infinity Stone and had no clue...

"I'm sorry," the Vision said. He sounded very, very much like Jarvis. "That was... odd." He turned to see Thor and nodded briefly. "Thank you."

He turned his head to look at her again, and frowned just a bit, looking between her and Thor; then a golden cape draped itself over his shoulders and fell towards the floor. Lena had to hide a delighted smile.

"Thor, you helped create this thing?" Steve prompted warily, still holding his shield tight.

"I've had a vision." Thor looked over at Wanda Maximoff for a moment. Stephanie shifted behind Lena, just slightly; she turned her head just a bit to see the other young woman was now more in front of the twins. "A whirlpool, that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center..." He pointed steadily at the glowing yellow gem on the Vision's forehead. "That."

"The gem?" Bruce asked.

Thor glanced at Lena. She nodded to him and spoke herself. "It is the Mind Stone. It has five siblings; together, the six are known widely as the Infinity Stones. They are... more destructive than anything in any universe, when united. We-" and she gestured to the Young Avengers scattered throughout the room- "know this, but I suppose we may as well inform you. In the past years, there's been a stirring. The Infinity Stones are reappearing- one by one. That is not even the first."

There was a heavy, thick silence.

"Then why would you bring it to-" Steve started to ask. Thor cut him off.

"Stark is right."

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Bruce muttered. Brenda nudged him softly, linking her arm through his.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Not alone," the Vision added.

"And why does... he sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked.

"Full of questions today, aren't we," Tasha muttered. Stephanie gently cuffed the side of her head. She grumbled, but shut up.

"We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new," Tony said. He was still silent, staring at the Vision.

"Think I've had my fill of new," Steve muttered.

The Vision looked around. A look akin to understanding dawned on his face, quickly followed by... disappointment? "You think I am a child of Ultron?" he asked.

"You're not?" Steve asked.

"I'm not Ultron... I am not Jarvis. I am..." The newly-created robot paused, for a few long seconds. "I am."

Almost forgotten, behind her, Wanda spoke. Her voice filled the air; her accent was thicker than it had been in Seoul. "I looked into your head and saw annihilation," she said clearly.

"Look again," he said. Lena raised one eyebrow; he was eager, it seemed, to prove himself to them.

"Yeah, her seal of approval means jack to me right now," Clint grumbled.

Thor glanced at him. "Their powers, the horrors in our head, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing, compared to what it can unleash. But, with it on our side..."

Steve looked at the Vision again. "Is it? Are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple," he murmured.

"Well, it better get simple real soon," Clint mumbled.

The girls of the Young Avengers all exchanged looks; raised eyebrows, worried frowns, flicks of the eye. Slowly, carefully, they separated, each drifting back towards her own parent. Stephanie and Lori stayed where they were, partially guarding the Maximoffs from view. Lena glanced over- Mjolnir was resting on the table near the Vision.

"I am on the side of life," the Vision said finally. "Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked, speaking up for possibly the first time.

"You," the Vision said.

"Where?" Steve asked.

"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too," Clint said. Nathan's shoulders relaxed; one hand rose and pressed against his eyes, the only visible sign of relief on his person. Claire slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

"If we're wrong about you," Bruce said, "if you are the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do?" Vision asked curiously.

There was silence. Stephanie straightened, iron in her eyes; Brenda was silent, watching everyone carefully. Lena tightened her hands into fists. Claire buried her head deeper into Nathan's shoulder, as he tightened his grip on her. Lori's face was emotionless.

The Vision was silent. His eyes flicked over everyone, noting their positioning, their movement. Evidently, he had come to a conclusion.

Then, slowly, he spoke.

"I don't want to kill Ultron," he said evenly. "He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me." He looked around for a moment, and his gaze fell on Mjolnir, lying innocently on the table. "But we need to go."

And with that, he seized the handle, lifted it easily, and offered it to Thor.

Lena felt a broad grin break out across her face. She glanced around. The Avengers wore different variations of the same expression- poleaxed shock. The Young Avengers? Well.

The silence dragged for a few long moments. The Vision obviously wasn't sure what was going on, but he continued to offer the hammer to Thor, who eventually accepted it.

"Alright," he said.

Stephanie could no longer hold her silence and crowed with laughter. "Oh my gosh," she said, coughing. "Hoooooo boy, I can't breathe..." She bent double and rested her hands on her knees, shaking her head as she grinned.

Lena grinned and strode forwards. "Lena Thorsdoitter," she said, as she extended her hand. "Welcome."

Claire shot an amused glance at the recovering Stephanie and walked forwards as well. "Claire Barton, codename Bullseye. Nice to meet you. Welcome to the crew."

Nathan stepped forwards next. "Nathan… Romanoff. Codename Brown Recluse. Welcome."

Lori swept to the front of the group, hand extended elegantly for the Vision to take. "Lori Lokisdoitter. Pleasure."

"Tasha Stark, codename Iron Maiden," Tasha called. "Great to finally have you around." She earned warning glances from all the Young Avengers- something the other Avengers noted with interest.

"I'm Brenda Banner," Brenda said, and gave him a small smile and a tiny wave. "Also known as Mini-Hulk."

"And I believe I'm last. Stephanie Rogers, at your service. Codename Patriot." Stephanie gave him her trademark sunshine smile and stepped forward to shake his hand. When she retreated, however, she didn't return to her father's side; she went to the Maximoffs and smiled at them.

"Now I can properly welcome you," she said, and extended both hands to them. "Welcome to Avengers' Tower- our home."

"It is lovely," Wanda said, with only the slightest hesitation. She eyed Stephanie's hands as if they were taller girl didn't seem bothered by the twins' unwillingness to accept the gesture; she spread her hands wide and smiled broader.

"I will admit, it's been a while since we've been here," she commented. "You've redecorated!"

Her blue eyes flicked to Lori, who grinned wickedly. "I don't like it," she said, using a posh British accent, and wrinkled her nose.

Tony looked afronted. Claire cackled.

"Do you want a tour?" Tasha asked after a moment. She seemed the next most willing to accept Stephanie's openness towards the twins and the Vision.

"I will not require one," the Vision said. "But perhaps the Maximoffs might appreciate one, and…"

"We're the Young Avengers," Tasha said, puffing her chest out and crossing her arms. Considering she was one of the shorter Avengers present, it didn't make her look much taller than normal.

"And I don't think we have time for chit-chat," Clint said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Barton's right. The tour will have to wait," Steve said. "Three minutes. Get what you need."


	8. Chapter 8

Finals week. God help us all. I believe in you, and I'll keep posting this to give you something to look forward to.

To answer a few questions: At this time, there will be no new Young Avengers. This, however, could possibly change, though not in this book. Would you be interested in a few new Young Avengers arriving? And if so, whom? I'll put up a poll on my profile, if I can remember how to do it. PLEASE go vote. I'd really appreciate the input.

Actually-Lori: Smooth. Real smooth. I'm 99% sure I know who you are.

Enjoy.

* * *

Stephanie gestured for the Maximoffs to follow her as she and Steve made their way to Stark's storehouse, where extra suits, weapons, and anything else were stored. "I'm sure there'll be something for you," she said with her warmest smile. To her father, she said, "Get me a suit, please?"

"Of course," he said, though he still eyed the Maximoffs with some trepidation. "Meet at the Quinjet in three, remember."

"I remember," she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "See you there."

They split off as Stephanie stuffed her hands in her pockets and turned to walk backwards. "So, what do you need?" she asked. "I'm sure Stark's got it lying around somewhere."

The twins traded looks. "He will need good shoes, that can stand up to his running," Wanda said.

"And she needs a jacket, not a shawl, so she does not get caught on anything," Pietro said, wrapping an arm around Wanda's shoulders. She looked resigned and irritated at the same time.

"I think we can do that," Stephanie said, resting her hands on her hips and glancing behind her. She narrowly avoided a steel pillar.

There was a tsking noise; Lori faded out of nowhere to walk beside Stephanie. "Eyes forward, lovely," she drawled. "Don't want you concussed right when things are getting good."

"I'm fine," Stephanie said, flapping her hand, but she turned around to face front again. "Now, right through here, and…"

They emerged in the storehouse. This was something she remembered from their last time in the Avengers' universe, though Stark had only been in the process of building it when they left. It was a large room, high ceilings and catwalks all around the room. The color scheme was all blacks and grays, but Stark had to have _some_ input, and the lights were arc-reactor blue, lining the walkways and set in the ceiling. It was a maze of sorts- laid out with a central hallway, but splitting into several smaller corridors. Half of the little corridors were dedicated to each Avenger, and the Young Avengers shared corridors with their counterparts. The rest were assorted clothing items, weapons, and more. Stephanie navigated the aisles with ease, passing Clint and Claire looking over arrows in the process.

"Shoes, shoes… Lori, knives and such are over there," she said abruptly. Lori split off with a twiddle of the fingers to the twins.

"Ultron did not say anything about you," Wanda said as they walked. Pietro gave her a wary look.

"That's because he didn't factor us into his plans," Stephanie said. "I'm not surprised. We pop up ever so often. It's hard to guess when and where we'll be." She hid a smile at the confusion on Wanda's face.

"What do you mean?" Pietro asked.

She side-stepped the question by halting in front of a wall of shoes. "There you are, Pietro. Shoes, and clothing to match is right over here. Wanda, jackets are right here. Will you be ok? I need to go check on my shield- Stark said he'd do some repairs while we're here…"

"Of course. We will be fine," Pietro said.

"I'll be back to guide you to the Quinjet in two," she promised, and vanished.

* * *

Lena fought to keep from shivering in the cold as they stood atop Avengers Tower. Thor and the Vision stood a short distance away, talking to each other softly. She longed to listen in, but refrained, and instead stood at the opposite corner of the roof, observing the peaceful city below.

New York was quiet at this time of night. If she looked into the distance, she thought she could see Hell's Kitchen, where Jessica Jones and Daredevil were probably on patrol- though maybe not Jessica, on second thought. Was that during or after the movie? She thought it was after.

"Miss Thorsdoitter," said the smooth British voice they'd all come to associate with Jarvis. She turned to face the Vision and Thor and inclined her head to them.

"What have you decided to be called?" she asked.

"I believe the Vision will suffice," he said. "It is, after all, quite accurate."

She allowed herself a smile and nod. "Indeed, so it is," she remarked. "I quite like your cape."

The Vision looked at hers and Thor's and smiled as well. "I do believe it is a popular fashion amongst your people?" he asked.

"Indeed, or it was when last I was there." She had to hide a wince at the memories associated with her and Lori's last visit during Thor: The Dark World. Frigga yet lived, but Lori had been unable to save Loki. However, if both the after-credits scene and Lori's own appearance in Asgard were to be believed, perhaps she had been after all.

"I wish to thank you, for your part in… creating me," the Vision said.

"I did little," she said. "Only contributed to Thor's power with my own meager offerings."

"They may not be as meager as you say," he said. "I thank you none-the-less."

"I gladly accept your thanks, comrade," she said, and extended a hand. He grasped her forearm, and she returned his grip. "Shall we do battle, then?"

* * *

Tasha leaned against the table as Tony sorted through various computer chips. There were quite a few; she scooped up the one labeled "Tadashi" and smirked to herself, before placing it back down on the table.

Tony chose the one labelled "Friday" and plugged it into a box in front of him. Tasha crossed her fingers and held her breath, waiting.

"Good evening, boss," said the Scottish voice of Friday. Tasha exhaled in a huff and grinned.

"Hello, Friday," Tony said. His voice was heavy; he raked his fingers through his hair. "Use the internet to get caught up with current events, will you?"

"Of course. Who's this?" Friday asked, obviously directed at Tasha.

"Tasha Stark, designation Iron Maiden," Tasha said. "I won't always be around, but sometimes- like now- I will be."

"Got it. What would you like me to call you?"

Tasha hesitated.

"Mini-Boss," Tony said.

She punched his shoulder and said, "No, no, not that. Just Tasha will work for now, ok?"

"Ok, Tasha," Friday said, and she smiled.

Tony stood up and strode away, and Tasha hurried to catch up with him. Steve was dressed, armored up and shield in hand, seated in the living room, and he turned to watch them approach. Bruce and he had obviously been talking, but they went silent as Tony and Tasha got closer.

"Hey," Tony said as he drew up beside Steve.

"Hey," Steve replied.

"Where's your better half?" Tasha asked, leaning around Tony to see Steve.

"Showing the twins around," he said, and sighed out.

After a long silence, Tony finally turned to face Steve and spoke. "No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing… we've lost. It's gonna be blood on the floor."

Steve shrugged, a self-deprecating smile tugging at his lips. "I got no plans tomorrow night."

"I get first crack at the big guy," Tony said. "Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

The Vision walked past as he spoke, and Tasha had to hide a wide grin as he said, "That's true. He hates you the most."

Steve snorted and checked his watch. "Time to round up the troops. Let's get moving."

"Tasha," Tony said.

She was already moving towards the suit dock. "On it."

* * *

Claire and Clint were silent as they loaded up arrow after arrow into their quivers. Claire inspected hers, pausing for a moment. "These look different from the last time I was here," she commented.

"They are. Tony did some work. There's a lot of things he improved on, as you can tell." He leaned over and tapped the quiver. "It holds more bolts now. We shouldn't run out, like we did last time."

Claire had to pause for a moment, recalling the end of their first time in the Avenger's universe. "That'll be useful," she said.

She returned to loading the quiver, but Clint's hand on her arm stopped her again. "What?" she asked.

"Are you all right?" he asked, voice so quiet that no one would be able to hear them, unless they were standing right beside them.

"What do you mean?" she lied.

"Loki," Clint said simply.

She stiffened, then relaxed. "It was tough, for a while," she admitted after a pause. "But we stuck together, and they helped me make it through."

"PTSD?" he asked.

On shoulder shrugged. "Minorly. They helped me hide it from my biological parents so I didn't get stuck in a loony bin. It helped that I've never had blue as a favorite color."

"Blue?"

"Certain shades of blue could trigger a panic attack, really early on," she explained, sitting down on the floor and continuing to stock the quiver with bolts. "What do you think- more explosives, or more mini-gun-thingies?"

Clint shook his head and smiled. "As you call them, mini-gun-things," he said.

They finished stocking their quivers and Clint sat down on a small bench. He scooted over for Claire, and she sat beside him as he fished out a piece of paper.

It was a picture of Laura and the two kids, well loved from the crease down the middle and rips around the edges. Claire exhaled slowly and touched one finger to the side.

"We'll make it," she reassured him.

Just then, an unfamiliar Scottish voice spoke over the loudspeakers. "Hello, everyone. My name is Friday; I'm the boss' new AI. Time to load up and move out."

Claire and Clint exchanged glances. "That's gonna be rough for him," Clint murmured.

Claire nodded agreement. "Ready to move?" she asked him. He nodded as he shouldered his quiver and bow.

* * *

Nathan threw the duffel bag over his shoulder and walked out of Natasha's and his corridor, turning to walk down the main hallway. He was double-loaded- carrying enough stuff for Natasha and himself both. He figured she'd appreciate it in the long run.

"Whoa! Packing a little extra this time?" Brenda asked as she exited a hallway and almost crashed straight into him.

"Enough for me and Nat-asha both," he said, hastily tacking on the added syllable or so. "I figure Ultron stripped her of her weapons when he captured her."

"About that," she muttered, lowering her voice.

He caught her eye. "You wanna come?"

"I don't want to, I need to. Bruce will tag along, and it'll stay true to the story line," she murmured.

"Well, I can tell you that Stephanie's already planning on changing it," he returned.

One elegant brown eyebrow rose up her forehead. "How do you figure?"

"She's practically adopted the Maximoffs as is. They're good as saved."

She inclined her head after a moment's consideration. "You're not wrong."

At that moment, the objects of their discussions exited the store room. Stephanie was armed up, and the twins had changed into their battle uniforms. She led the way, but gave the twins an encouraging smile as they fell in together.

"So, we all ready to move?" Brenda asked to fill the tense silence.

"As ready as we can be." Lori's silky tones filled the air as she materialized out of the shadows.

"You've gotten better at that," Nathan complained, to hide the fact he'd almost jumped straight out of his shoes.

"I had an excellent teacher," she said in return. Brenda leaned forwards slightly to see her and raised an eyebrow. Lori nodded once.

Then the quinjet was there before them. Claire and Clint were already doing pre-flight checks in the cockpit, while Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Tasha ranged around the spacious cabin. Stephanie tossed Steve's shield to him; he caught it without looking and turned to see her. Lori found a seat against one of the walls, folding her arms over her chest and watching through the front windows. Nathan walked over to stand beside her and deposited the heavy duffel bag onto a seat near her. Brenda also went to her father figure, standing close beside him and forcing him to wrap his arm around her before she sandwiched it between them. Thor and Lena showed up with the Vision just a few moments before Clint closed the hatch and took off.

"Everyone take an earpiece," Claire called as she pulled a case out from the wall and walked towards the center of the cabin.

Steve waited for everyone to be settled before saying, "All right, listen up." It took only a moment for everyone to fall silent. "Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are, we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia- they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us."

He paused. Silence filled the air for a few moments before he continued. "Ultron thinks we're monsters, and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him." He looked up, making an attempt to meet everyone's eyes. "It's about whether he's right."

He paused for a moment, making an effort to catch everyone's eyes. "All clear?"

"All clear," about half the quinjet murmured.

"Good." He turned to look at Clint. "Let's move out."


	9. Chapter 9

I have the entire battle written. Chapters will be slowly but steadily uploading over the next few week(s).

On another note, I'm going to my grandparents' house sometime before you read this. I'm a little cranky about it. Wifi there can be sketchy, so I'll do my best to update in a timely fashion.

Review replies:

Ophelia Claire: They've all been back for their movies- hence Frigga surviving and a few other more minor canon tweaks. You'll see more of this in future chapters, after the battle.

Ars3n1c: Yes, Frigga did not die. This will be further addressed in a future chapter. You'll do great on your finals!

Neyite: Your wish is (somewhat) my command. Just keep reading, it'll pop up eventually.

To everyone else: I thank you very much for reviewing. You're all wonderful people. I hope you know how much reviews with feedback mean to me. Even just "post soon!" makes me happy. I'll endeavor to do better at answering your questions in the future.

Remember: 50 reviews equals Author's Cut. Trust me, it's freaking hilarious, also very, very different from what you're reading in places. If we reach that, I may put up a stretch goal of 75 for a little extra... something. We'll see.

Enjoy!

* * *

They dispersed the minute they got off the Quinjet in Sokovia. Pietro tore off down a street, leaving a streak of blue in the process. Wanda sprinted down a different street; her eyes and hands were glowing red as she sent out tendrils to the people who lived in Sokovia's capital city. Brenda, Bruce, and Nathan slipped away, but not before Brenda caught Stephanie's eye and jerked her chin to indicate they were leaving. Stephanie returned the look with a sharp nod.

She, herself, sprinted after Pietro, and arrived at the police station just as he raced in and shouted, "We're under attack! Clear the city!"

The police men exchanged glances, some shrugging, but ultimately did nothing. Or they didn't do anything until Pietro raced back inside, came to a skidding halt, and raised a Kalashnikov rifle into the air, pointed at the ceiling, and fired a short burst. "Get off your asses," he ordered, disgust thickening his accent. Stephanie chortled and raced out of the building on his heels.

They cleared the street they were on in 2 minutes, thanks to Pietro, and the red tendrils flowing through the air. Stephanie let one finger touch a nearby tendril; her mind echoed with Wanda's voice.

 _You must evacuate. Danger is coming._

She continued along the street, until she and Pietro knocked on the same door at the same time. "Well done," she said, giving him a smile and turning to run back down the street.

"Need a lift?" he asked her.

"If you don't mind," she said, and before she could finish, he'd scooped her up and set her down near the quinjet.

He was also panting. "You are heavier than you look," he said. "Why is that?"

"Why, Pietro, did no one ever teach you to never ask a lady her weight?" an elegant voice asked. Lori floated over, chin up and a small smile on her thin lips.

"Lori..." Stephanie said, drawing the name out in exasperation. "Don't worry about it. Super soldier serum. I'm sorry, I should've warned you. Are you all right?"

He grinned at her, around his heavy breathing. "Just fine. Let's get back to work, yes?"

She nodded, and they took off down another street. Lori shook her head in their dust.

* * *

Meanwhile, Thor, Lena, Bruce, Brenda, and Nathan had all made their way into the depths of the large base on the hill overlooking the city. Thor busted down a wall with Mjolnir, and he and Lena turned right, walking towards the cavernous room, where one of the worms from the first major battle as Avengers was hanging from the ceiling. The other three turned left, and Nathan and Brenda led the way, sprinting down the corridor.

"Natasha!" he yelled as they ran. "Natasha, where are you?"

"Nathan?" a faint voice called, and he followed it.

Natasha wasn't inside her cage, like in the movie. She was standing outside of it, strapping on her Widow's Bites. Nathan rounded the corner and backpedalled as she made a lunge towards him, before she realized who it was and dropped the attack stance.

"Natasha?" Bruce asked as he rounded the corner, passing Nathan and Brenda in the process.

"Bruce?" she asked, looking startled. She eyed the large gun Bruce was carrying with surprise.

"You alright?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah."

"The team's in the city, it's about to light up."

Brenda inched over to Nathan, who was watching them. "So, does Claire have a farm I should know about?" she muttered. He snorted loudly, but turned it into a cough as Natasha looked over at them.

"So what's our play?" Natasha asked, testing her Widow's Bites, clearly ready to use them.

"I'm here to get you to safety," Bruce said.

"Job's not finished," she commented, catching his eyes and holding them.

"We could help with the evacuation, but I can't be in a fight near civilians. And you've done plenty. Our fight is over." He shrugged and let the gun drop.

"So we just… disappear?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The ground rumbled abruptly, and all four of them winced, bracing themselves on the ground. "What was that?" Bruce demanded.

Brenda and Nathan exchanged glances. "Do you want the honest answer, or the 'everything is sunshine and roses' answer?" she asked.

"We gotta move," Bruce said.

"You're not going to go green?" she asked, looking astonished.

"I've got a… compelling reason not to lose my cool," Bruce said.

Brenda started eying the edge of the chasm beside them and inched away from it. "I won't shove you in, I promise," Nathan muttered in her ear. She nodded her appreciation.

"I adore you," Natasha whispered, and pulled Bruce in for a kiss. Nathan made a disgusted face; Brenda looked anywhere but at her father. Then, while he was still recovering, she planted both hands on his chest and shoved him back over the edge of the chasm. "But I need the other guy."

Brenda took a few good steps away, breathed in deeply, and exhaled. As she exhaled, her eyes turned poisonous green, and her skin began to change color, from a tan color to green. Her shirt ripped, leaving her in a sports bra and shorts made of the same material. When she was done, Mini-Hulk crouched down and offered a hand to Nathan.

"Be nice," he said, as Hulk himself landed hard on the edge of the chasm and growled at Natasha.

"Let's finish the job," she told the Hulk, and leapt onto his back, holding on tight.

The two Hulks looked at each other, as Nathan climbed up to ride piggy-back, and nodded at each other.

* * *

Back on the surface, the evacuation was going… less than well. Cars were blocking the bridges, as people attempted to evacuate their prized possessions as well as themselves. The civilians were making their slow way over the bridges, but things weren't progressing well.

Clint, Claire, Steve, and Stephanie had been delegated to traffic control- Steve and Steph of the cars, and Clint and Claire of the civilians. Meanwhile, Tony and Tasha swept the city, scanning for Ultron.

"Your man's in the church, boss," Friday said, and Tony banked right, zooming towards the heart of the city. Tasha was right on his tail. "I think he's waiting for you."

The ceiling was open; they dropped straight down into the church. Ultron was hiding, but was still present.

"Come to confess your sins?" he asked, voice sinister. Tasha suppressed a shiver.

"I don't know," Tony answered. "How much time you got?"

"More than you."

They turned around, Tasha swinging up a blaster in the process. Tony reached out and pressed her hand down. She could tell he was nervous too, though, by the way his breath hitched.

Ultron was now over seven feet tall, and his face was inhuman to an extreme. He walked like a human would, but there was something off about him that Tasha couldn't place.

"Uhhhh, have you been juicing?" Tony asked, stalling for time so obviously Tasha could see it. "A little Vibranium cocktail…? You're looking- I don't want to say puffy-"

"You're stalling to protect the people," Ultron said, with a calm nonchalance.

Tony paused. "Well, that is the mission. Did you forget?"

He sounded honestly sorry. Tasha felt it- he could see what Ultron should have been.

"I've moved beyond your mission," Ultron said. "I'm free."

The ground between them and Ultron erupted. Tasha fought to keep from jumping back in shock and fear. She succeeded, for the most part- both she and Tony staggered backward anyways.

"What, you think you're the only one stalling?" he asked, amused.

"There's the rest of the vibranium," Friday said to Tony. Tasha turned on her X-ray vision and looked at the ground below the church. "Function: still unclear."

"This is how you end, Tony," Ultron said. Tasha looked up, priming her blasters to take off. "This- is peace in my time."

* * *

Stephanie yelled in shock as the ground near her erupted, producing one of Ultron's minions. She responded quick enough- by jamming her shield into its neck to decapitate it- but by the time she was done, hundreds more were already swarming the city.

"Lori, we got trouble!" she shouted into her earpiece, as she caught another minion before it could emerge fully from the ground. "Time to work for a living!"

She straightened just as a robot crushed a windshield of a car behind Steve and blasted at him. He ducked out of the way just in time, shielding his face with his shield, and turned to kill it.

Nearby, Clint and Claire had their bows out, and were methodically firing arrow after arrow into the chests of robots. One tried to climb over the wall Hawkeye had his back to. Just as Claire was thinking she'd have to warn him or interfere, he spun the arrow he was nocking around and jammed it firmly into its face.

"Nice," she commented, as she fired once again.

Stephanie glanced over to see Wanda trying her hardest to get people off the bridge, shouting at them and pushing them along. A robot managed to land on the ground and turned its arm into a gun, pointing it at the crowd Wanda was protecting. She whirled and created a shield within seconds, holding it as the people ran away, before one blast too many forced her backwards and made her fall to the ground. Lori sprinted to her side and helped her to her feet, shielding the people in her stead as she escorted the young woman away from the bridge.

"Eyes on your own fight," Lori ordered her, through the channel dedicated to the Young Avengers. "I can take care of myself."

"Never doubted you for a minute," Stephanie said, a razor-sharp smile darting over her face. "Let's move."

* * *

"Ultron."

Tasha watched as the Vision descended from the heavens. Here, in the center of the city, was a quiet, tense bubble. She was sure it wouldn't remain that way for long, but it would have to do for now.

"My Vision," Ultron said as he rose to hover in front of the Vision. "They really did take everything from me."

"You set the terms," Vision said. "You can change them."

"All right," Ultron said, deceptively calm, and reached out to grab Vision's shoulders. He returned the favor, both hands rising to grip on either side of Ultron's face. Ultron gasped; his eyes glowed orange. He turned and slammed Vision into a wall, but the robot held on.

"Friday!" Tony shouted. "The Vision?"

Friday sounded amazed, for a robot. "Boss, it's working. He's burning Ultron out of the net. He won't escape through there."

"Good," Tasha growled, already powering up her blasters to fire. Again, Tony forced her hand down.

"Save your power," he said, when she turned and Looked at him.

Ultron finally succeeded in throwing the Vision off of himself. "You shut me out!" he roared, as the Vision fell backward, hovering as if in a faint, yet still conscious enough to keep himself afloat. He lunged forwards, grabbing Vision's neck with one hand and head with the other. "You think I care?!" With that, he hurled Vision to the ground, and released him, flying to the central pedestal. "You take away my world…" He activated the pillar. "I take away yours."

"Can we shoot him yet?" Tasha demanded, powering her blasters up for the third time.

"Yep," Tony said, and they opened fire.


	10. Chapter 10

I'm finally back from my grandparents' house. Thank goodness.

Remember, 50 reviews equals Author's Cut, yada yada. Also, I have a few ideas for a stretch goal of 75 reviews...

This is the longest chapter yet, topping out at over 3,000 words. Hope you guys are enjoying this!

* * *

Thor and Lena had been battling their way through the depths of the city, destroying wave after wave of Ultron's minion robots. They finally broke through the endless enemies and stared in awe at the structure Ultron had built, just in time to see it come to life.

"What fresh Hel is this?" Lena whispered. She was lying, of course; she knew exactly what it was.

Thor gave her a look, but was cut off almost immediately by falling debris. "Lena, come here!" he ordered. She sprinted to his side, tucked in close to him, and shielded her head from the falling boulders as they piled up around and over the two.

* * *

Overhead, everyone was finally seeing what Ultron's master plan was.

Pietro, having just taken out 10 of the robots, stumbled and fought to keep upright as the city began to rise underneath him. Clint and Claire stared down the street they were on, watching as the roofs of the houses reached their level and vanished below them. Steve and Stephanie ran down opposite sides of the bridge they'd been directing traffic along, just in time to see the bridge buckle and split. Lori took a shallow breath as she watched the city beneath her begin to rise.

"Friday," Tasha whispered.

The AI sounded… afraid. "Sokovia's going for a ride," she said in hushed tones.

Sure enough, a massive portion of the city was rising, slowly but steadily, into the air, gaining altitude with each passing second.

"Do you see?" Ultron asked. He was far away by now, observing as the chunk of the city rose into the air, but his words were broadcast through the speakers on every single minion. "The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall.

"You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword, and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world... will be metal."

* * *

Natasha yelled as Hulk leapt into the air, soaring as a bird would, gaining altitude as he jumped off falling rocks to reach the flying city. Mini-Hulk and Nathan weren't far behind, but Nathan found his ride to be much smoother and less angry- probably due to the fact that Brenda had transformed willingly, and Bruce had been forced into it.

They landed in part of the forest that had risen with the city. Hulk's rough landing sent Natasha flying, forcing her to tuck and roll as she skidded over the ground. Mini landed with a grace that belied her size and weight, and helped Nathan disembark.

"Thanks," he told her, flashing her a razor-sharp, white-toothed grin. She returned it with a toothy smirk of her own.

"I really hope this makes us even," Natasha told the Hulk, as he straightened from his own hard landing. He turned and made a noncommittal noise, to Nathan's ears. Natasha smiled. "Now go be a hero."

"Brenda, Mini, I'll see you around," he said, and slapped Mini's shoulder. Mini nodded and followed Hulk's lead, as he raced towards the city. The two Romanoffs took off in pursuit.

* * *

Tasha followed Tony out to a distance away from the city and sized up the rock with him. "The vibranium core has a magnetic field- that's what's keeping the rock together," Friday said.

"And if it drops?" Tony asked.

Tasha winced. "I don't think I want the answer to that question."

Sure enough, Friday spoke again. "Right now, the impact could kill thousands. Once it gets high enough?" She hesitated for a moment. "Global extinction."

"Right. Goal number one: make sure the city doesn't drop like the bassline in a Skrillex song," Tasha muttered. She startled a snort out of Tony.

They powered back towards the city, just as Friday spoke. "That building's not clear- 10th floor!"

They curved their trajectory accordingly. Tony fired a missile to open a wall for them to enter through. Tasha arrived about a second before he did and busted down the door.

"Ah, hello!" she said with a wave of her hand. "Would you please get in the tub?"

The family scrambled to do so, and together Tony and Tasha took off through the window, just as the building began to collapse.

"I got airborne- heading up to the bridge," Friday added.

"Cap, you got incoming," Tony warned.

* * *

If the situation wasn't so dire, Stephanie might've laughed.

Tony's warning was seconds too late, as a robot caught Steve around the middle and hurled him into the windshield of a car. She managed to dodge the robot coming after her, luckily, and turned just in time to hurl her shield at the back and sever the 'spinal cord'.

"Cap, you got incoming," Tony said, as Steve wheezed against the glass.

"Incoming already came in," he reported in a strangled voice.

Stephanie turned and ran to his side. It was a quiet moment. Everywhere else, minions were dive bombing innocent people, but they had forgotten about the Rogers for a moment. She extended one gloved hand to Steve. He started and looked at her.

Her eyes were solid ice, but warmed as she smiled at him. "You all good?" she asked, as he took her hand and she helped him off the car.

"I'm good, Steph," he said.

She took a deep breath as she thought of the battle to come, and abruptly reached out and hugged Steve, wrapping her arms around her middle and just holding on for a few seconds. Steve tensed up; she released and wiped a smear of dirt off her cheek.

"Sorry," she said, keeping her voice low. "Just wanted to hug you in case I forget to later."

He tugged at her braid, which was already coming loose. "No problem," he told her, smiling, before Steve vanished and Captain America returned. "Starks, you worry about bringing the city down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed…"

Stephanie sucked in a breath.

"Walk it off."

She followed that up with her own little pep talk. "Young Avengers, you heard him. We have work to do. Tasha, stick with Tony. Wanda, Pietro, how are you holding up?"

"I am fine," Wanda said, though her voice shook.

"No problem," Pietro said. His heavy breathing told the true story, but she chose not to comment.

"Good. We can do this, but we have to work as a team to do so. I believe in you guys- I trust you guys. You gotta trust me, and trust each other, in order for this to work. Ready to get to it?"

There was a chorus of "yeahs" and at least two "hell yeahs" that had her shaking her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "All right then. Move!"

* * *

Lori was having the time of her life. She'd spent several hours speaking with Loki on Asgard before arriving on Midgard, and he'd been more than willing to impart as much knowledge on her as he could. She was putting every single trick he'd taught her in those precious moments to very good use.

Her favorite spell was most likely the one that superheated the robots' metal. It basically melted the robot down into molten metal, which she then could vanish or turn into an orb to be thrown at it's friend at top speed. The freezing spell wasn't quite as fun- it turned the robots into a giant iceberg, and that reminded her a little too much of her last time in the Avengers' universe for her comfort.

But the superheating spell was fun, as was the tornado spell and the energy spell. She planned on using every single spell in her arsenal over the next few hours- starting on that pack of robots right over there...

* * *

Clint and Claire were machines, moving in perfect tandem to keep the street around them clear and the civilians safe. Claire kept one eye on Wanda, who was working as hard as she could, but looking terrified every step of the way.

She watched as Clint backflipped over a car and took out a minion as soon as he landed. She cleared the last robot from the alley way, before shadows made her look up. She cursed and turned, sprinting down the street towards Clint and Wanda, who was shivering against a corner, eyes huge with fright.

"GO, GO, GO!" she shouted, sparing a glance at the kamikaze robot aiming for the car. Clint caught her gaze, grabbed Wanda, and threw both of them through a window as the car detonated. One of his hands grabbed Claire as she reached for him and yanked her through after them.

As soon as they were through the window, Clint and Claire took up strategic positions on either side of the window. Wanda crawled on her hands and knees to the side of the window, whimpering softly as she collapsed to her hands and knees.

"How could I let this happen?" she gasped, breathing heavily as she rocked back and forth.

"Hey, hey, you ok?" Clint asked. Claire sighted through the window and took out a robot in his blind spot, before giving the girl a concerned look.

"This is all our fault," she whispered, gripping her head in her hands.

Claire looked; there was no one to shoot. She risked moving to crouch beside Wanda, keeping one eye on the window, and placed a gentle hand on the young woman's back.

Clint looked a little uncomfortable, but after a moment seemed to adjust into his more fatherly persona. "Hey, look at me," he said, and Wanda obeyed, hair covering her eyes. "It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares. Are you up for this?" he asked. She stared at him blankly. "Are you? Look, I just need to know, cause- cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow." He shook his head. "None of this makes sense-"

Several bolts fired straight through the wall. Claire flung her hand over Wanda's head, pushing her away from the deadly blasts. Clint straightened and fired an arrow through one of the new holes, before crouching back down. "But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find you, but if you step out that door, you are an Avenger."

Claire pressed her palm into Wanda's back. She looked between the two Bartons silently.

"All right, good chat. Claire."

"On it." She stood up and retrieved the multi-arrow firing device from her boot, swinging it up to activate the arrows. Together, they paced to the door.

"Yeah," Clint muttered, as they stood together, backs to the door and at least 20 arrows nocked between the two of them. "The city is flying."

Claire nudged him with her elbow. He caught her eye; they nodded solemnly to each other. Then Clint raised his foot and kicked open the door, and together, they emerged into the sunlight.

* * *

Steve and Stephanie raced along the bridge as more of it crumbled away into the air, racing towards two cars with occupants who had obviously been too scared or too stupid to get out of their cars. One woman was in a convertible; the other two were in a small car. Just as the convertible began to fall, Steve reached out and grabbed the bumper.

"Dad, bad idea!" Stephanie yelled, as she reached for the back of the car, but it was too late. The rest of the car ripped away, and the convertible plunged into open space. She sighed as she arrived next to him and peered down into open space. "Guess that answers the question of which is stronger- you or the bumper."

He shook his head as she waited. Sure enough, a streak of red caught her attention- and not the falling car.

Thor and Lena reversed course abruptly, shooting back towards the car. As soon as they landed, Lena reached out a hand and grabbed the woman's wrist, before Thor took over. Steve looked at Stephanie. "You gonna be good?"

"I'd better be," she retorted, "cause you're gonna just do it anyways."

He smiled, shook his head, and hopped over the edge of the bridge, grabbing onto some exposed rebar in the process. Far below, Thor looked up. Stephanie gave him a thumbs-up. He looked at the woman, gave her a smile, and launched her up, into the air. Steve reached for her wrist and caught her.

"I got you!" he yelled, over the whistling winds. "Just look at me!"

She looked up obediently, and into the face of Stephanie Rogers, who was crouched near the edge. "Throw her to me, I can haul her up!" she shouted.

"You ready?" Steve asked, not waiting for a response before he used all his strength to throw the woman up to Stephanie. She caught the woman with one hand, anchored herself with the other, and dragged her up to safety.

"Are you all right?" she demanded, as Steve climbed up behind her. The woman looked shaken, but unhurt. Stephanie gave her a quick glance-over, deemed her fine, and sent her running down the bridge.

"DOWN!" Steve roared. She hit the deck before he could finish, and he hurled his shield into the face of a robot that was speaking.

"You'll never save them all," Ultron said through the minion. "You'll never-"

Steve held up his arm. The magnets on the wrist gauntlet glowed blue; the robot trembled and went flying towards him. At the last possible moment, he stepped aside, and the shield connected with the magnets. The robot, however, was not so lucky, and went flying off into open space.

"You'll never what?" he shouted to the wind. "You didn't finish!"

Stephanie looked up from her prone position and swore, rolling to her right several times until she bumped the wheels of another car. Thor promptly dropped the other car on where she'd been sitting, and he and Lena both landed on it. Lena stepped off and offered Stephanie her hand. She took it with a broad smile, and the two walked back towards the mainland.

"What, were you napping?" they heard Steve say to Thor, and both women laughed.

At that moment, they spotted Nathan and Natasha, launching themselves into the fray to attack. "Look who finally decided to join the party!" Stephanie called, laughing as she sprinted out to join him. Lena wasn't far behind.

They fought for just a few seconds before Steve shouted, "Get down!" The three of them hit the deck, no questions asked, as Thor slammed Mjolnir into the edge of Steve's shield and sent it flying through a few robots. Stephanie vaulted to her feet and sprinted over to grab it out of the van it imbedded itself in. With an almighty heave, she yanked it out of the metal, turned, and hurled it back to Steve.

"Lena!" Thor roared, and the young woman in question sprinted towards him. He was hovering, using Mjolnir's powers to keep himself floating in the air. Lena leapt onto a van near him and started slinging lightning- every robot that got within about 10 feet of her was suddenly pumped full of electricity. One particular robot that Thor hit flew through the air and rammed into the side of a conveniently placed petrol truck.

The resulting explosion knocked Nathan and Stephanie back several feet. Both rolled up into crouching or kneeling positions, watching cautiously as the petrol continued to burn up.

"Thor!"

Nathan heard Ultron shout overhead, and whirled on his knees to shout in Lena's general direction. "LENA! Get down!"

She leapt off the van and onto the back of a robot, shocking the electrical circuits to destruction. In the meantime, Ultron shot forwards and grabbed Thor around his middle, tackling him away from the battle. "You are bothering me," he growled.

"No, you do not," Lena growled. She turned and clenched her fists, tilting her head back to the sky.

The thing most people didn't understand about Thor and Mjolnir was that Thor's powers didn't come from Mjolnir. Mjolnir was a focus, a conduit; it gave extra strength and guidance to the raw, unbridled power that Thor had. Without it, he could still use his powers, but they were much more prone to lashing out at anyone and everyone around him.

Lena's powers, on the other hand, were far weaker, but much easier to control. She was able to hold lightning in her palms and guide it into her veins, where it would bounce around, gaining power, until she called upon it and set it loose. That's what she did then; she drew on the lightning that had been growing in her veins and called it to her hands, creating two massive bolts of lightning that crackled around her fists. She turned, looked at Ultron, and flung both hands forwards, releasing such a massive blast of energy that thunder rolled from the force of it.

The lightning missed Ultron, but hit Thor. He grunted in shock and channelled it into Mjolnir, then into Ultron himself. It wasn't enough, but it gave Ultron a good shock as they rocketed away to do battle.

"Not my father," she rumbled, and took off after them at a dead run.


	11. Chapter 11

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all have wonderful holidays and I'll post again before New Year's at the latest.

These sections may seem short. That's because I followed the movie as closely as I could. It was a pain, but it was worth it, I think.

Remember, 50 reviews gets you Author's Cut. My friend and I worked on it some more and I think it's pretty hilarious.

All right, let's get to the story. Enjoy!

* * *

Claire and Clint were not doing well.

Arrows were excellent against human enemies, Claire thought grimly, as she fired another arrow into the eye socket of a minion who was about to shoot her, because humans could bleed, and feel pain. These enemies could do nothing of the sort. If anything, she thought that they were repairing themselves.

Another shot, and she watched as Clint dove over a car, falling onto his back and wincing in the process. She spared a glance at the house they'd been hiding in; there was no sign of movement from within.

"Ow," Clint complained, as she scrambled back to crouch next to him. They both peered over the front of the car they were hidden behind. The sight was not promising; at least 7 robots were hovering in front of them, and more would be coming. One of them actually stood up and pulled Clint's arrow out of its shoulder, before advancing while its gun spun up.

To their left, the doors flew open. Wanda Maximoff stepped out of the house they'd been hiding in, eyes glowing red. One hand threw a robot into its brethren; she then yanked the robot apart and sent its torso flying into yet another minion. Within seconds, she'd cleared the entire street.

Clint stood up from behind the car, pulling Claire to her feet as well. "Good job," she said to Wanda, a small smile flickering across her face. "Glad you've decided to join the fight."

"I might as well try to help, since I am here, and it is my home Ultron is destroying," she said.

Claire's smile fell. She put a sympathetic hand on the other young woman's shoulder and squeezed. "Let's finish this, then," she said.

"We're all clear here," Clint said.

"We are not clear!" Steve shouted, jolting Claire.

"We are very, very not clear!" Stephanie added, thought she was laughing. Claire smiled and shook her head.

Then there was a blue blur, shooting towards them. Claire stepped aside as Pietro arrived, scooping up his sister with little to no effort and calling, "Keep up, old man!" as he continued running.

Clint watched them leave, and belatedly raised his bow, aiming down the street towards the twins. "No one would know," he said, almost whining, as Claire broke down and started laughing. "Nobody." He slowly lowered his bow, sighed, and shook his head. Together, the Bartons started down the street, Clint still whining. "The last time I saw him, Ultron was sitting on him. Uh, yeah… he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already."

Her laughter died as they kept walking. Unless they worked fast, when the time came, things would not go well for Pietro…

* * *

"The anti-gravs are rigged to flip," Friday reported, and Tasha muttered a rude word. "Touch them, and they'll go full reverse thrust. The city's not coming down slow."

"The spire is Vibranium, right?" Tasha asked.

Tony picked up her thoughts and said, "If we get Thor to hit it-"

"It'll crack, but that's not enough. The impact would still be devastating."

Tasha let out a long, slow breath.

"Maybe if we cap the other end, keep the atomic action doubling back," Tony suggested, but he didn't sound very hopeful.

"That could vaporize the city, and everyone on it."

"Well, that's not an option," Tasha snapped, just as Steve asked, "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What've you got, Stark?"

Down on the ground, Stephanie, Steve, Nathan, Natasha, and Wanda had been working on moving civilians indoors. Stephanie put her arm around an older man and helped him indoors as she added, "Please tell me it's good news."

"It's not," Tasha said.

"Nothing great," Tony said at the same time. "Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear."

Steve clearly didn't think much of this plan, as he snapped, "I asked for a solution, not an escape plan." Stephanie paced back to his side and stared out at the destroyed city before them, running her fingers over paint scratches that covered her shield.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice," Tony said softly. He sounded… tired.

"Captain, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock…" Natasha said softly, as she and Nathan stopped beside Steve and Stephanie. The smoke was starting to blow away, revealing carnage in the square in front of them.

"Not 'till everyone's safe," Steve said immediately.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there?" Natasha looked over at Steve and shook her head. "There's no math there."

Nathan and Stephanie stepped around the sides of their parents to meet with Claire, who was looking just as exhausted as they were. Stephanie flicked over to the second channel, reserved specifically for the Young Avengers, and muttered, "Phase two is about to kick off."

"We know," Claire and Nathan chorused, as they tucked in close to each other.

"I'm not letting him die," she said.

"That's a fantastic idea," Tasha said dryly. "So Clint will die instead?"

"No," she said quickly. "And here's my plan…"

* * *

"I don't like it."

"I don't much either, but we don't have much of a choice. Any of you have better ideas?"

Silence.

"Lori, are you all right with this?"

"I've done worse." The silky tone was gone from Lori's voice, replaced with bleak acceptance. "I'll do it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I like the speedster as much as you do. I've done it before. It's as much my plan as it is yours."

Stephanie sighed and shook her head, messing with the edge of her shield. "Then unless any of you has a better idea, this is it."

Silence again.

"We'll go ahead with it. Disperse."

They switched channels again just in time to hear Natasha say, "-view like this?"

They split back to their parents as Fury spoke over their comms. "Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better."

The Helicarrier rose into view, a magnificent sight that hovered steadily with them while the island continued to rise. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

Stephanie couldn't help herself. She yelled with glee and bounced up and down, grinning ear to ear, all thoughts of the conversation erased from her mind temporarily. "Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve said, grinning himself as he glanced over at her.

"Oooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury asked, prompting laughter from Nathan, Stephanie, and Natasha, while Steve sighed heavily and shook his head. There was still a smile on his face.

Pietro raced up as they stared at the Helicarrier, skidding to a halt near them. "This is SHIELD?" he asked.

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be," Steve corrected.

Stephanie watched as a small smile appeared on his face. "This is not so bad."

There were lifeboats now, detaching one-by-one from the Helicarrier and floating forwards to hover just beside the land mass. One landed just a few feet away from where the group was standing.

"Let's load 'em up," Steve called, and they split, racing towards the lobby they'd hidden civilians in.

* * *

Tasha and Tony were preoccupied when the robots started attacking the Helicarrier, but quickly noticed when they all began vanishing. "Dad, they're going after the 'carrier," Tasha said as soon as she noticed.

"I see 'em," Tony said grimly, and they shot towards the Helicarrier- just at least five of Ultron's minions fell to machine gun fire and a gray Iron Man suit shot out of the Helicarrier bay.

"War Machine," Tasha breathed, a grin spreading across her face. "Dad, you didn't tell me Rhodey was gonna show! Nice to finally see you again!"

"Wait, Dad?" Colonel Rhodes asked, sounding confused. "Tasha?!"

"Yep!" she said, shooting past his shoulder. "I'm back, bitches!"

"Don't let Cap hear you say that," Tony warned, causing Tasha to cackle maniacally.

"This is gonna be a good story," Rhodey said, as he shot through a robot's torso.

"If we live to tell it," Tasha pointed out, sending a blast through the heart of a minion and forcing it to collide with a friend.

"What, you think I can't hold my own?" Rhodey asked, sounding affronted.

"We get through this, I'll hold your own," Tony said.

Rhodey sighed; Tasha could almost see him shaking his head as he rammed straight into another robot. "You had to make it weird," he muttered.

Tasha laughed, and shot out ahead of the two men, banking gracefully around them. "C'mon, slowpokes," she called, turning in midair to look at them. "We've got an army to defeat, and lifeboats to defend."

"Let's get to work," Tony said, and they did.

* * *

Stephanie and Steve led a wave of people out to the closest lifeboats, two of which had landed securely on the edge of the island near them. One was at the bridge the two of them had been fighting on for a good portion of the fight; the other was in front of a huge plaza. They split up to cover more ground, Stephanie taking the bridge and Steve taking the plaza.

There were two SHIELD agents waving people onto the boat. Stephanie led the charge, sprinting up to the woman who appeared to be in charge. "I have about 75 people coming in," she said. "How much is capacity?"

"We have seats for 50," the woman said.

"That's not what I asked. How many people can you carry?"

"Max capacity will be close to 100. It'll be cramped, but it's a short ride."

"Great, thanks. Everyone, this way!" she called, waving people towards her.

Pietro appeared beside her, blue trail just vanishing in his wake. He was carrying an older woman who couldn't walk, and carefully set her down in one of the seats. Reminded, Stephanie turned and shouted, "Leave the seats for the injured, elderly, or young!"

Pietro turned back to her, walking over. Before she could think twice, Stephanie reached out and ruffled his white hair, smiling affectionately at him. "You're doing great," she said encouragingly, before her eyes fell on the wound on his arm and she frowned. "Are you injured?"

He looked at his arm; the wound was a bullet wound, but it looked weeks old by this point. "It is nothing," he said, brushing it off. "I think my healing is accelerated, thanks to what Hydra did to me."

Her eyes darkened at the mention of Hydra. "Damn bastards," she said, completely unashamed, though she did look abashed when a mother nearby shot her a glare and covered one of her daughter's ears.

"Why do you say so?" he asked curiously.

She waved one hand. "It's a long story. Ask me and Nathan to tell you more about it after this is all over." And you're alive and well, she wanted to add, but refrained from saying it.

"I will hold you to that," he said with a charming grin, and then was off again.

"Did you just try to flirt with me?" she asked thin air, before shaking her head and laughing. "All right, keep moving!"

* * *

Claire and Clint signalled in the lifeboat, as it hovered overhead. Wanda was crouched near the civilian crowd, observing them with glowing red eyes. Claire brushed it off and signalled to the lifeboat that it could settle down. As it did so, she sprinted back to help those who needed it down the steps and into the boat.

"Everyone on!" she shouted, signalling for people to keep loading up. "Keep moving!"

When it was fully loaded, she pressed one hand to her ear and spoke. "Number six lifeboat is full."

* * *

Tasha, in the meantime, was having the time of her life.

"Whoo!" she shouted as she backflipped over a robot and flew straight through its midsection. "This is a blast!"

"Says you," Tony grumbled, as he shoved off yet another grabby robot and fired a few shots straight through its head. "These guys are worse than the press."

She just whooped wordlessly again and was about to take off in another direction when she spotted a kamikaze robot, heading for the bridge of the Helicarrier. "Oh, no, you don't," she muttered, before kicking her thrusters into high gear and tearing off after it.

While Ultron may have designed all these robots to perform a variety of tasks, there was one thing he hadn't factored in- speed, either on land or in the air. Tasha was at least one and a half times as fast as the robots, going normal speed. At full thrust, she was nearly three times as quick. Unfortunately, the robot still had a lead on her, and managed to crash through the glass of the bridge before she arrived and, thankfully, went through the same broken panel.

"How bout no?" she snapped as she saw the robot trying to fire at Maria Hill and Director Fury, and launched herself forwards to grapple with the robot. It was strong, but the crash had broken internal components, and she found herself with the upper hand.

"Move!" Fury shouted, and she obeyed without thinking, throwing herself away from the robot and rolling back up into a standing position. He plunged a sharpened piece of metal into the robot's head, and watched as the blue light faded from its eyes. Then he looked up and nodded once to Tasha.

"Iron Maiden."

"Director. Sorry to intrude. Seems like you had everything handled."

"Your assistance was appreciated," he said. "But you need to get back out there."

"Already on it, sir," she said, snapped a salute off, and launched herself back out the broken window.


	12. Chapter 12

So many reviews! I'm shocked!

I've got plenty of ideas for the 75 review stretch goal now. Keep those reviews coming in!

In other news, Happy New Year!

Now we see part of Stephanie's mysterious plan coming into play. Enjoy!

* * *

Lena tracked Thor and Ultron to the church- not a difficult task, considering the trail of destruction behind them. She slipped in stealthily, cape gathered in one hand, lightning in the other, and hid behind a pillar, watching.

"You think you're saving anyone?" Ultron was saying, as he grabbed Thor by the throat and lifted one fist high. Lena's hand clenched around the lightning. It bit at her palm, fighting her control. She forced it down.

"Hello," a cool voice murmured behind her. She didn't jump; she'd felt Lori's presence, probably because Lori didn't want her to startle and alert Ultron to her presence. "Planning to take Mjolnir yourself, or let the Vision go through with it?"

"It is his right," she murmured, watching as the Vision stood up and looked at Thor's hammer, lying innocently near him.

"I am Thor, son of Odin," Thor growled, watching Vision over Ultron's shoulder. "And as long as there is life in my breast, I am… running out of things to say!" he gasped. "Are you ready?!"

Ultron straightened, looked confused (for a robot), turned to see what Thor was looking at, and was promptly sent flying by Vision, who wielded Thor's hammer as if he'd been born to it- which, in hindsight, he probably had been.

"It's terribly well balanced," the Vision commented, as Thor summoned Mjolnir back to his hand.

"Well, if it's too heavy, you lose power on the swing, so," he said, slightly out of breath as he demonstrated and rested a hand on his hip, regaining his breath.

Lori and Lena took that opportunity to step out of the shadows in tandem, walking forwards. Lena let her cape fall to the floor once again, and her lightning danced up and down her arms as she walked to Thor's side. "You looked like you could take care of things," she said. "That is why I didn't interfere. That, and I only arrived a moment or two ago."

Lori laughed.

* * *

"Aha!" Tony shouted, as he dove through a robot and fired a few shots into the chest of the robot coming up behind him. "I got it! Create a heat seal. I can-" He got hit in the shoulder by a blast and restarted the thought. "I can supercharge the spire from below."

"Running numbers," Friday said immediately.

High above, an explosion caught his and Tasha's attention. "Aw sh-" Tasha muttered, as she watched a lifeboat list to the side. "Going up!"

She rocketed upwards and slammed into the bottom of the boat, putting full power into her thrusters to right it. Tony joined her a split second later and helped her get the lifeboat into position to dock.

"It could work," Friday said after a moment.

"Thor!" Tony shouted, as the lifeboat finally docked and they were able to pull away. "I got a plan!"

"We're out of time," Thor said, voice rough. "They're coming for the core."

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," Tony ordered immediately. Tasha was already shooting towards the church, and he followed on her heels as Rhodey responded. "Avengers, time to work for a living."

He, Thor, Vision, Lena, Tasha, and Lori were the first ones to arrive at the church, and the amount of robots coming in was a slow stream that was gradually increasing. Pietro turned up not two seconds after the Starks touched down. He was quickly followed by Steve and Stephanie, who rammed through a few robots like bulldozers on their way into the church. Clint, Claire, and Wanda all walked in at the same time, and Pietro appeared in front of his sister, reaching out to touch her face. "You good?" he asked. She nodded an affirmative.

"Romanoff?" Tony asked, as he fired another blast. "You and Banner better not be playing hide-the-zucchini."

"Oh, my gosh," Claire said, pressing one hand to her face. "I did not need that."

"None of us did, believe you me," Stephanie said, glaring at Iron Man.

"Relax, shell-head," Natasha said over the communicators, and a few people peered out one window to see her coming towards them. "Not all of us can fly."

She was driving a bulldozer, a proper one, painted black and yellow. Nathan held onto the back, watching over the roof of the cab as Natasha plowed through cars and debris and robots- lots of robots.

She parked it against- well, crashed into- the fence surrounding the church and swung out of the cab gracefully, jogging into the church. "What's the drill?" she asked as soon as she arrived.

"This is the drill," Tony and Tasha chorused, gesturing to the pillar-like key in the center of the room. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose," Tony added, shooting a glare at Tasha that was clear even through the suit helmet he wore.

The last of the party to join arrived at precisely that moment. Hulk slammed into a few minions entering through one orifice in the church, quickly followed by Mini-Hulk. "Hey, big guys!" Stephanie called, walking over to Mini as she entered the main room. "You holdin' up all right?"

Mini gave her a nod and happy-sounding huff.

"Good. Ready to take out some minions?"

A much less happy huff.

"Excellent."

They turned to face Ultron as he appeared, hovering at a distance down the street. Thor, running on some serious adrenaline from his last fight with Ultron, roared, "Is that the best you can do?!"

"Oh, bad idea," someone muttered.

Sure enough, Ultron raised one hand, and another few hundred robot minions crawled out of everywhere, surrounding the church on all sides.

"You had to ask," Steve said wearily.

"This is the best I can do," Ultron said, raising his arms and stretching them out to indicate his army. "This is exactly what I wanted- all of you, against all of me." He scoffed. "How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well, like the old man said," Tony said, and looked over at Steve. The two men exchanged looks, and Tony finished, "Together."

Hulk and Mini-Hulk let out raucous battle cries, ones that shook the ground, and Ultron's minions took off, racing towards them. The Young Avengers spaced themselves out to fill in the small gaps in the ranks, and the whole team got to work.

The battle was long, and intense. There was almost no room for talking, but the Young Avengers switched over to their private channel and started making smart-alec remarks as the battle raged.

"Did Vision just crush a bitch?"

"Dude, I missed it! Dangit!"

"Well I just watched Steve rip one's head clean off, and let me tell you- if he wasn't at least four and a half times my age, I'd be turned on."

"Oh my gosh, don't say that, that's disgusting!"

"Aight, Vision's officially my fave. He just-" a horrible grinding sound- "ripped this one minion's heart straight out."

"Guys, we missed 'I am a rotisserie chicken' Captain America."

"Wanda looks a helluva lot more pissed off here than she did in the movie."

"I think Thor forgot he had a hammer. He straight-up punched this dude's face in."

"I believe that Clint has forgotten that in order to use a bow, one must first keep hold of said bow."

"Man, Pietro's knuckles are gonna be bruised. I keep seeing him punch robots in the chest. Those things aren't made of flesh."

"I just watched Hulk rip one's head off with his teeth and spit it out. That's the most badass thing I've seen all day- and I've seen a lot of badass things."

"And Natasha still has her pew-pews- speaking of which-" a grunt- "where'd she get those taser sticks? I want some."

"No."

"But I want some!"

"Aaaaand-" as Ultron grew tired of observing the fray- "Player- what is it, like 17?- has joined the game."

Vision forced Ultron out of the church through the power of the mind gem and followed him, keeping the beam steady on his head. Tony and Thor followed, putting three more points of pressure on him. Lena and Tasha stayed behind, to keep defending the key, but the robots were starting to run out.

The flow slowed to a trickle, and the two girls decided to join their fathers outside. As they stepped out into the sunlight, though, it became clear that their efforts weren't needed. The combined forces were melting Ultron's face away, disgustingly. He let out an inhuman scream and collapsed.

They let up- far too early, in Lena and Tasha's opinions. Ultron slowly stood up. "You know, with the benefit of hindsight-" he started to say, and then Hulk punted him halfway to outer space. He turned to see a small pack of Ultron's minions, staring at him uncertainly. They turned tail and raced away. He roared and followed. Mini-Hulk- after what they swore was a long-suffering sigh- took off after him.

"They're trying to leave the city," Thor said abruptly, watching as the minions started sprinting off the edge of the city.

"We can't let 'em, not even one. Rhodey!" Tony called.

"I'm on it." There was a pause, during which Vision took off towards the swarm trying to escape, and then he said, "Oh no, I didn't say you could leave. War Machine, comin' at you, right a-"

They watched as the Vision exploded a few of the robots with the mind gem laser, before phasing his arms through one's chest and rending it in two.

"... Ok, what?"

Tasha cackled.

* * *

Back in the church, Steve turned to look at them. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, we'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you-" indicating Stephanie and him.

She waited for Clint to ask about the core, and Wanda to speak up, before speaking herself. "Wanda, I believe in you, but I'd feel better if at least one of the Young Avengers stayed back to help you. Would you be ok with that?"

"Who would you suggest?" she asked, instead of writing it off straight away. Stephanie considered that a success and cast her eyes over the Young Avengers.

"Lori," she said, as her eyes landed on the green-clad girl. "Her powers are similar to your own. She'll be helpful."

"I barely know you," Wanda said to Lori. "How do you know I can trust you?"

"You don't," Lori said simply. "But if you trust her-" at Stephanie- "she trusts me."

There was a pause. "Sister, if I cannot help you, then I'd rather someone stayed," Pietro said, before adding something in Sokovian they didn't understand. Wanda nodded.

"She may stay."

"Thank you," Stephanie said, and nodded to the others. "Disperse. Not one robot, hear?"

"Got it, Mom," they chorused raggedly, and spread out. Stephanie shook her head, laughed, and followed Steve.

Pietro paused, and Lori stayed out of the way, pretending not to listen to their little sibling exchange. "I'm twelve minutes older than you," he said, and Lori automatically thought of all the times 12 appeared in all the movies. Perhaps it was her suspicious roots, but she still wondered if the universe wasn't trying to tell them something with 12.

Then he was gone in a blur, and she set to work.


	13. Chapter 13

So I'm not the only one who thinks Marvel's up to something with 12, huh? Realized this just a few minutes ago- I referenced the 12 theory IN CHAPTER 12. You don't get much more ironic than that.

In other notes, I'm heading back to college tomorrow- or, well, today, now. It's my second semester and I'm not really looking forwards to starting it. This finishes the major battle, though. Mostly what I post from here on out will be extras and plot.

Relating to plot, you get more of a taste of what, exactly, Stephanie's plan was. Let's just say Wanda won't be happy when she figures out what happened. Enjoy!

* * *

"Boss, power levels are way below opt-"

"Re-route everything," Tony ordered. "We get one shot at this."

"Friday, update on my power levels," Tasha said, as she shot down another robot.

"Yours are marginally better, Tasha."

"Excellent. Worst comes to worst, use my power," she ordered Tony.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

* * *

"I know what I need to do," Clint said, as Claire hung over his shoulders in the backseat of the Audi he was driving. "The dining room! If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh?"

He wove through the traffic with ease, swinging around a corner and cutting it a little too close to the edge for Nathan or Claire's comfort. "Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around… what do you think?"

"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway," Natasha said, as if they drove cars close to the edge of certain death every day- which they probably had at some point, Claire thought.

"No one eats in a dining room," Clint scoffed.

"My other family does," Claire supplied. Nathan rested a hand on her back and watched the edge.

They pulled up at a lifeboat, just as roars from the distance made them look over. "We don't have a lot of time," Clint said grimly.

"So get your ass on a boat," Natasha said, and got out of the car.

She and Nathan ran towards the Hulks' angry roars. They were standing in an empty plaza; Mini-Hulk looked ready to shrink back down to Brenda, but Hulk still looked angry. "Hey big guy," Natasha called, as she peeled off one glove.

Nathan caught Mini's eyes and looked up.

Inside Mini's head, Brenda nudged her. "There's a danger," she whispered. "It roars like we do, with bullets that will kill the little fast one if we aren't faster."

Mini grunted and looked up. She like the little fast blue boy. They'd encountered each other at least twice, and each time she'd waved, the boy had waved back, looking a little confused, but still doing it. She didn't want the little blue boy to die.

"So we need to help him," Brenda encouraged her. "And we need to save Nathan, so when you hear that noise-"

Nathan looked up. Mini looked up too.

It was the noise.

"Showtime," Brenda whispered. Mini roared in response.

* * *

"Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church with Lena," Tony said, as he and Tasha slipped through a hand-made hatch into the depths of the machine.

Thor nodded, as if forgetting they couldn't see him, and looked at Steve, Lena, and Stephanie. "Is this the last of them?" he asked.

"Yeah. Everyone else is on the carrier." Steve sighed as he looked around. Stephanie rested her hands on her hips and breathed deep.

"You know," Tony said, after an awkward pause, "If this works… we maybe don't walk away."

Thor looked down at Lena, standing beside him. "Maybe not," he admitted, and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

Then a noise caught Stephanie's attention. Her face went white; she looked up. "Get down!" she screamed, and yanked Lena behind her and her shield- as the rain of bullets began.

* * *

Claire had just sat down when Clint heard the mother calling for her son. She was on her feet immediately, and pointed. "There. I see him." Before Clint could say anything, she was off, sprinting across the open ground.

Clint followed her as she reached the boy, kneeling beside him. "C'mon, up you get," she said briskly, and swept him into her arms. She wasn't nearly as good with kids as some of the other Young Avengers were, but she had younger siblings, and she knew how to carry kids.

"Steph," she said on the main channel, and switched over to the secondary one. "Showtime."

"He's heading your way," Nathan said immediately. "Be. Careful."

Clint reached the boy as she stood, but now she could hear the gunshots down the street. There was a car, the car that Pietro had died pushing them behind in another life. She took a deep breath, reached out, grabbed Clint, and dove.

* * *

"Report!" Stephanie shouted, slapping her hand against her comm again to make sure it wasn't off. "Oh my god, everyone, report!"

"I'm good, and so's Mini," Nathan said immediately. "We're en route to the Helicarrier with Hulk and Nat."

"I'm all right," Lena said, as she staggered to her feet.

"Lori, Tasha, Claire, come in," she ordered.

"I'm fine. Wanda is not," Lori said. Stephanie took a shallow breath.

"I'm fine. What happened?!" Tasha demanded- mostly for Tony's sake.

"Ultron stole the jet," Nathan snapped, "and he went on a joyride."

"Claire?" Stephanie asked again. "Nathan, did you see Claire at all when you went by?"

"No," he said, and his voice shook.

"I'm going there now," she said immediately, and took off at a dead run.

Stephanie was already running through all the worst case scenarios in her head, and trying not to at the same time. She flat out sprinted towards the car where she knew she'd find them, praying softly as she slowed down, panting in the thin air, and came around the corner.

"Oh, thank God," she whispered, as Claire coughed repeatedly and slapped her communicator a few times. "Guys, Claire's good, Clint's good, the kid's good-"

"Where's Pietro?" Lori asked in a low tone.

"Here," Claire rasped, and shifted. She'd accidentally hidden Pietro with her and Clint's bodies. He looked exhausted, but- and Stephanie had to refrain from laughing with sheer joy- he was alive.

A roar overhead split the air in two. Stephanie reflexively shielded them with her shield, but it wasn't Ultron. Hulk and Mini-Hulk were both fit to be tied about the events of the past 5 or so minutes, and neither were looking to take any prisoners. She let them go, and helped get Pietro on his feet.

"You still managed to get yourself shot," she muttered, noting two crimson roses on his chest, and slung one of his arms over her shoulders. "Let's get you back to the lifeboat."

* * *

Lori, however, was having less of a good day.

Wanda had shot off as soon as she felt the connection between her and her brother go dark, going straight for where the Hulk had thrown Ultron.

She followed, but stayed at a distance. Wanda was sure to be blazing mad the second she realized Lori had manipulated her, and she wanted to make sure that she was far away when that connection between them reopened.

"Wanda…" Ultron breathed, as Wanda slowly knelt next to him. "If you stay here, you'll die."

"I just did," Wanda said, voice so thick with hatred she was hardly understandable, even with Allspeak. "Do you know how it felt?"

She reached out a hand and let it hover, right over the line where Ultron's left half met his right. Her hand twisted grotesquely; slowly, Ultron's chest forced itself open, and she gripped the power core in her hand.

"It felt like that," she hissed, and crushed it.

Then the entire island rumbled. Lori yanked the shroud from the connection between Wanda and her brother. As the Sokovian woman straightened abruptly in shock, the island began to fall.

* * *

Tony and Tasha were immediately pinned under the falling island. Stephanie barely made it onto the lifeboat, crouching near the edge and staring downward as the island began to get smaller. Steve knelt right beside her, one hand clamped firmly on her shoulder.

"Vision, get Wanda and Lori, they're down there somewhere," she ordered. "Please."

Meanwhile, Tony and Tasha were at the bottom of the city, staring up at the core. "Go," Tasha said. Tony needed no other encouragement; he pointed the Arc Reactor at the core and fired it, full blast.

"Thor, on my mark," he ordered. Lena yanked every ounce of lightning out of the air and into her hands, clenching them tightly to not let any escape. She and Thor traded looks.

"I have them, Miss Rogers," Vision said. Tasha acknowledged that silently, waiting, pointing her own blasters up and firing.

"NOW!" Tony shouted, and Thor and Lena both blasted the core with everything they had.

The shockwave vaporised anything it touched, spreading outward in a circuitous wall. Tony and Tasha both dove, shooting towards a large lake below them, as Thor grabbed Lena and rocketed upward. The two Starks dodged massive pieces of falling debris as they flew parallel to the lake. Tony was on his last ounces of power; Tasha kept one eye on him and one eye on the raining bits of city around them, as they wove through the rain of debris and circled back towards the Helicarrier.

* * *

"Hey big guy."

Brenda turned to look at the front of the plane, looking up at the Hulk. "Go on," she murmured. "She's talking to you."

He huffed at her as she hugged the shock blanket around her shoulders and paced to the front of the plane.

"Job's finished," Natasha said, through the video feed. "Now I need you to turn this bird around, ok?"

Brenda licked her lips and picked up a package. "INFLATABLE LIFE RAFT" read the packaging. She looked up to the front of the plane.

"We can't track you in stealth mode," Natasha continued. "So help me out. I need yo-"

Hulk turned off the video feed.

There was a pause, where silence filled the air. Then Hulk sighed, and began to shrink down.

Brenda was there to catch Bruce, when he finished changing back. "You're still here," he said, upon seeing her.

"Of course I am," she said, smiling shakily. "I'm right here."

His gaze fell on the package in her hands. "But you want to go back."

"I need to go back," she said simply. "I want to stay with you, but that's not an option."

"Why not?"

She gave him a Look.

"Continuity," he said after a moment.

She nodded slowly.

He sighed out after a long pause and opened his arms. "Come hug me, then," he murmured. "It's the least I can do before you leave."

She didn't need any further prompting; she wrapped both arms around him, dropping the package on the floor to bury her head in his shoulder. He'd leaned over, and she stood on tiptoes; they made a funny sight, she thought distantly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you," she whispered.

"I know," he said. "But it'll be ok. We'll see each other again, right?"

She nodded into his shoulder. "We should, if the universe keeps up the pattern."

He drew away and gave her a small smile. "Then I'll see you then, hm?"

She nodded again and wiped tears out of her eyes.

"I'll drop the plane down to just a few yards above the ocean and drop you off," he said, walking to the center console. "Sound good?"

She nodded, and picked up the package again. The black lettering was blurry; she wiped away more tears and turned to walk to the back of the plane.

Two and a half hours later, Brenda looked up as a quinjet circled over her head. The first person who greeted her as she got out of the lifeboat was Stephanie.


	14. Chapter 14

50 REVIEWS! You guys are the best. When this is done, I'll release the Author's Cut, complete with snarky comments and deleted scenes, as a separate document, all in one chapter.

This doesn't mean there's not another incentive. If you hit 75 reviews, my best friend Em and I have been cooking up some stuff that I think you'll enjoy. Who knows? Maybe if we get to 100 reviews, there'll be something there too...

A few responses!

Emz: Would it be a spoiler if I said "not yet?"

Guest: Best decide if you want that fight or not- eventually the truth will come to light and things will happen.

Actually-Lori: Sure you do.

Lori and Stephanie's plan is gradually coming to light. You'll understand more of what's happening in this chapter, I promise. Enjoy!

* * *

The Avengers had by no means been idle in the past two and a half hours. Pietro had been in surgery to remove the bullets that had still managed to hit him, but he healed quickly, as he'd told Stephanie, and was expected to make a full recovery. Wanda still hadn't figured out what had happened, but it was only a matter of time before she did, and Lori was staying well out of her way to slow the process.

The refugees had to be set down and offloaded back onto solid ground once more. The old Helicarrier had become a tent city for those with no relatives to go to, and relief was pouring in from all over the world.

In the meantime, the Young Avengers kept out of people's way and changed into civilian clothes after being treated for various injuries. Nathan had been hit by a bullet; he was limping, but would survive. Claire had bruised her ribs and her arms were sore from so much archery. Lena and Lori were basically fine, along with Stephanie and Brenda, after she turned up. Tasha was exhausted and bruised black and blue all over, but ice would take care of that.

They moved among the refugees, helping where they could and comforting where they couldn't. The Helicarrier had food donations pouring in from the second they set down on the lake part of Sokovia had just rained into. They passed rations out, blankets, pillows, anything and everything the refugees needed.

Lori found Stephanie rocking an infant to sleep, while her mother kept an eye on the two other children. "Do you think she knows yet?" Stephanie asked, as Lori sat down beside her, without her usual cat-like grace.

"She suspects. You didn't help by saying our powers were similar," Lori murmured. She touched the infant's blonde head gently, with two fingers that stroked the soft down of her hair.

"I had to convince her it was a good idea," Stephanie said, the shrug in her tone, though she didn't shrug her shoulders for fear of waking the baby.

"I know you did." Lori shook her head. "I'll take the blame."

"What? No," Stephanie said immediately, turning to look at her friend. Lori's eyes were dead serious. "You're joking- she'll despise you-"

"She already suspects I did something," the other girl said. "Better for her to despise and distrust me when Civil War comes, than to despise and distrust you."

"And the comm logs?"

"Erased." Lori's voice was bland.

"You didn't."

"After the fiasco last time, of course I did. Whatever we said was for our ears alone. If one of us wants to tell, then so be it. But I'm not letting you take the fall for what had to be done."

"It didn't have to be done," Stephanie murmured.

"Think ahead. The War is coming- you're coming back for that, we all came back for our Phase Two movies. You're gonna be here, so's Claire, Nathan, Tasha, maybe Brenda, we still don't know. She needs to be able to trust you. They all need to be able to trust you." Lori turned to look at Stephanie, who was still rocking the infant. "Just because you made a call that you regret doesn't mean you should end the friendship between you two before it begins."

Stephanie lowered her head. "I do regret it," she admitted. "Your part in it, at least. I don't regret saving Pietro, and I don't regret killing Ultron. But I regret your manipulations."

Lori gave her a sly smile. "Well, I AM a Lokisdoitter," she murmured. "Manipulation is our game."

"But it shouldn't have to be." Her mouth was set in a mullish line.

Lori dropped the theatrics and sighed. "I know. I'm just glad that he's still alive, though."

"How did you find out?" Stephanie asked. Lori smiled and began talking.

* * *

 _This was not the forest._

 _Lori'd been walking for what felt like ages, trying to find her way back to the car with Lena in front. She'd been able to see the parking lot around Lena's shoulders when the world shivered and changed._

 _She paused, blinking in shock. Lena was gone. The parking lot ahead was no longer a parking lot, but a market place. She stood at the edge of a stand of trees, staring at it in silent awe._

 _No one appeared to notice her presence, so she walked forwards. An odd feeling on her thighs made her look down- she was wearing a knee length dress, with an angular hemline, and black tights underneath. Her feet were covered in black boots. She felt her hair- it was slicked back into a long, tight braid._

 _A feeling in her chest that she couldn't identify started to form. It made it hard for her to breathe, especially as she saw the people in the market place._

 _They were dressed as Asgardians._

 _She was home._

 _It took her a while to reach the palace, but as soon as she did, she found the secret entrance Loki had shown her, during his return to Asgard after the first movie drew to a close. It was still there, blocked with protection spells that practically sang with his magic. She drew a deep breath and pressed a hand forwards. Green fire trailed from her fingertips, connecting to the magic._

*I'm home,* _she thought, and pushed that thought forwards._

 _She only had to wait perhaps five minutes for Loki to arrive. She felt his magic draw closer, and the door flew open. She found herself wrapped in a rough hug, and, startled, hugged back._

" _I knew not if you would return," Loki murmured to her. "I am glad you are home."_

" _I am too, believe you me," she murmured, squeezing a bit. "I'm so glad you're alive…"_

 _He drew away and smiled at her. He looked tired, ashen-faced and thin, but his eyes still sparkled. "Did you really have so little faith in me?" he asked, raising one elegant eyebrow at her._

" _Well, you never can tell," she said, returning the raised eyebrow. "I always thought that I was the more powerful one."_

 _Loki smiled. "Come in. I believe we have much to discuss."_

* * *

"So he is alive?" Stephanie whispered.

Lori nodded, playing with the hem of her jacket. "It was so good to see him," she murmured. "Especially since the last time I was here…" Her voice trailed off.

Stephanie extracted one arm from the child and wrapped it around her friend's shoulders. Lori was usually so confident; seeing her like this, so shaken by the last time she'd seen Loki, dying on a barren planet, was almost scary. "But he's all right now?" she prompted.

Lori hesitated. "He looks tired," she admitted. "Keeping up the illusion takes a lot out of him. He's doing it up to 20 hours a day."

"And Frigga?"

Lori shook her head. "Frigga is either completely clueless- which is so unlikely it's hysterical- or she's allowing it to go on, for some reason. I don't know. She seemed to know. She treats 'Odin' with more of a motherly feeling." Her mouth quirked up in a smile. "You'd like her."

"I bet I would," Stephanie said, settling back in her seat more. "I hope I can meet her one day."

"One day," Lori said softly. "One day…"

* * *

Fury dismissed the Avengers as soon as he could manage it. "Go home," he told them, eying them all- their exhausted eyes, their sagging shoulders, their bandaged and healing wounds. "Get out of here. We'll clean up. You don't need to worry about it."

Brenda sighed out a heavy breath. Claire's head was resting on Nathan's shoulder, and he squeezed her opposite shoulder. Stephanie sighed in relief and nudged Lori, who smiled. Lena stretched and grinned broadly at Thor. Tasha crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her neck.

"But Bruce took the plane and ditched," Clint pointed out, rolling his shoulder. Tony looked pained at the reminder.

"There's a plane for you," Fury promised. "Now get."

The Young Avengers needed no further pressure. Claire, Tasha, and Lena were already moving towards the door at a run. Stephanie laughed as she watched them run, turning to look at the other Avengers. Wanda looked like she was hesitating, reluctant to go, but Stephanie walked over to her and murmured softly to her, reaching out to grasp her shoulder.

"Can my brother come?" she asked.

"If the doctors say he's stable enough to travel," Fury said.

"I will go check," Wanda said, and turned to walk away.

Clint followed her, but the other Avengers and Young Avengers followed the three who'd gone ahead. By the time everyone was on the plane, they'd returned, bearing Pietro in a wheelchair. He looked distinctly put out and grumbled as Clint pushed his chair and Wanda fussed over the blanket on his lap.

"I can walk just fine," he complained, crossing his arms over his chest and looking like a five year old child pouting.

"But if you walked, you would begin running, and then you'd tear your stitches out," Wanda said. She shook her head. "Where are we going?"

"Well, there's two options," Tony said, checking his phone. "We go to Avenger's Tower, or we move into the compound early."

"Compound?" Tasha prompted, mostly for everyone else's benefit.

"Yeah. My dad used to have an old SHIELD facility in upstate New York. I've been remodelling it for a few months." He tapped away on his phone, before adding, "It's not done yet, but it's close enough that you can move in."

"You're not moving in with us?" Nathan asked curiously.

"Nah. I still have to be around to be the face of Stark Industries, not to mention handling the press after this." His shoulders slumped, nearly imperceptibly. Tasha nudged his side with her elbow.

"So, what do you think?" Steve asked the plane as a whole, as Natasha took off.

"I'm up for the new place," Stephanie said with a shrug. A few of them nodded agreement.

"Sounds good," Clint said, from where he was watching over Natasha's shoulder.

There were a few more noises of agreement, and Stark turned his phone off with a click. "All right, then. Let me input the coordinates and we'll be on our way."

"A new home," someone murmured; no one was quite sure who.

* * *

"This place is a mess," Tasha said, staring at the room in front of them. "This is just- wow."

She wasn't precisely wrong. The walls were freshly painted, and the floor was covered with paint tarps. Furniture was piled against a wall on the far side of the room from them. There was dust in the air, enough to make Wanda cough and wave a hand in front of her face.

"Of course it's a mess," Tony said, sounding insulted. "It's the control center. No one's supposed to work here yet. The living quarters are finished, though, and the medical center should be done within the week."

"Really?" Claire asked, sounding excited. "Can we see our quarters?"

"If you can find it," Tony retorted.

"Challenge accepted," Tasha, Brenda, Claire, and Lena chorused, and split. Stephanie laughed hard at that one, and dragged Lori off. Nathan sighed and followed after them.

"I want to go," Pietro complained. Wanda sighed, shook her head, and pushed him after them.

The facility was expansive. About half of them got lost within the first five seconds of exploration. Stephanie pulled Lori along after her, weaving down hallway after hallway, before finally selecting a door and pushing it open.

"So that looks like a break room," she said casually, peering inside. "Should we go in?"

"Why not?" Lori said with a shrug. "I could use some coffee. Also, I know where the living room for our quarters is," she added, with a dramatic tint in her voice.

"You do?"

"Yeah, and they're absolutely nowhere near close to it," she said, dropping her mystical aura. "They're all so damn lost."

Stephanie collapsed onto the couch, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. "Oh my gosh," she wheezed, grinning at the ceiling. "Ahhhh I can't breathe!"

Lori collapsed onto a chair and waved her hand at the coffee maker. It started to whir as she leaned back in her chair and stretched out, smiling at Stephanie.

After a few moments, Stephanie shifted and asked, "How long do you think it'll be until they find us?"

Lori held up three fingers, then two fingers, then-

"Hey guys!" Claire said as she barged into the room, Nathan on her heels. "What's- IS THAT COFFEE?!"

"Calm down, and yes, it's coffee," Lori said lazily. "Give it a few minutes."

"Can't you speed it up?" Claire whined, walking over and flopping down on another couch. Nathan wandered over to the foosball table in the corner and spun one of the handles.

"Magic can't solve all problems," she said.

"Then WHAT is the POINT of MAGIC?" Claire demanded loudly.

The door flew open again, admitting Brenda, Wanda, and Pietro. "I thought I heard Claire's dulcet tones," Brenda said cheerfully. "Do I smell coffee?"

"At this rate, we're only getting shots," Lori grumbled. "I need a full cup with your carrying on."

Stephanie lifted her feet and waved at them. "Seat," she called, pointing to where her feet had formerly been. "Sit."

Brenda flopped down on the corner of the couch, and Stephanie put her feet back down across Brenda's lap. "Wanda, there's a comfy chair-" she started to say, before Lori waved a hand and levitated the chair to fit more in the circle.

"Anyone want to fight me in foosball?" Nathan asked.

"I heard foosball!" Tasha announced loudly as she kicked open the door. Lena was right behind her, laugh booming over the room.

"So we've just given up on the lounge, haven't we," Claire said flatly, just as the coffee pot made a noise. "Oh, COFFEE!"

"I call dibs," Stephanie called, raising one hand. Lori waved her hand again; two mugs with "Stark Industries" floated out of the cupboard and filled themselves, floating over to Lori and Stephanie. Claire tried to grab the cup out of the air as it floated over her head, but it dodged and ended up settling into Lori's grip. Stephanie took a drink and sighed out happily.

"Why don't I get magically-made coffee?" Claire complained.

"Because you aren't my best friend," Lori said.

"Ooooooh, that's cold," Brenda hissed, grinning at the faux-hurt look on her face. "What do you want?" She stood up and walked over to the coffee pot.

"You'll make her lazy," Nathan warned.

"Oh, wow, what is it, Hate on Claire Day?" Claire called dramatically.

"Love you too, babe," Nathan called, as he spun the handles on the foosball table.

Brenda turned to look at Wanda and Pietro, smiling warmly at them. "Do you want coffee?" she asked.

"None for him," Wanda said, shaking her head vehemently. "I can hardly keep up with him when he does not have caffeine."

"But sister-"

"No," she said firmly.

"But-"

"No!"

"Have we just given up as a whole on that lounge?" Brenda asked casually as she continued to make three cups of coffee.

"Yeah," came a chorus back to her. She laughed and carried the cups over, giving one to Claire and another to Wanda.

"I can tell you where the living quarters are, by the way," Lori said casually.

"Where?" Stephanie asked, taking another sip of coffee and resting her feet on Brenda's lap as she sat back down.

"Two floors up, directly over our heads."

There was an explosion of laughter, and to Stephanie's silent joy, Wanda and Pietro joined in.


	15. Chapter 15

College sucks. This is your PSA for today. It's also my excuse as to why I haven't updated.

Some responses to reviews:

Ars3n1c: Yep! And now that we've passed the actual movie itself (all except for the very end and end-credits scene), expect things to start wrapping up.

Ophelia: I'm operating under the assumption that the twins are barely 18, which means there will be some very funny scenes later on...

Phoenix: I'm really super excited too, but I know what happens in the comics (COULD BE MASSIVE SPOILERS, BE FORWARNED) and I'm very very terrified.

Actually-Lori: Of course you do, dear. Of course you do.

75 reviews for the extra stuff which I have decided will include a massive deleted scene that I've decided not to include with the main storyline, because it doesn't quite fit with the story itself. Want to know more? Then get to 75 reviews, and you'll see. ;)

Aaaaand intermission for shopping because why not.

* * *

They ran into the Vision on their way up to the living quarters and pulled him along with them. Lori led the way up to the living quarters and pushed open the double doors.

"We're home!" Tasha crowed, sprinting past Lori and flinging herself onto the couch. "Ah, thank God, I'm exhausted-"

"Ditto," Brenda said, following the horde in and shoving Tasha aside to sit down and curl up herself. "I'm so tired. Can I just sleep for a year?"

Stephanie walked past them, ruffling Brenda's hair gently. "Wonder if Stark picked out our rooms for us," she wondered aloud.

"Stark picked out your rooms, but not the decorations," Tony called as he walked in. "Have fun?"

"We got lost," Tasha said with a shrug. "Ended up finding a staff lounge and crashed there for a while. We have coffee now." She held up the cup she'd snagged on the way out.

"You didn't bring me any?" he asked. Tasha held her mug out until he tried to grab it, then snatched it back and took a long sip.

"Mmmm," she said, grinning at him shamelessly. "Get your own."

"Hey, is there going to be a Starbucks here?" Stephanie asked as she walked past, before stopping. "Pillows."

"What?" Claire asked. Brenda shoved herself up to see better.

"Pillows. You have a nest of pillows."

Lena's eyes lit up. "There is a nest of pillows for us?" she asked.

Stephanie was already making a beeline for it, carefully lifting her coffee as she sat down and settled into the nest. It was actually a divot in the ground filled with pillows of all sizes. She sighed out as she settled into it and sipped her coffee.

"This is the life," she said, smiling lazily and leaning her head back. "Literally the only thing that could make this better is me in sweatpants and a tee-shirt, instead of this stuff."

"Well, if you need clothes and stuff, it's on me," Tony said with a shrug.

"Shopping trip," Lori said immediately.

"I'm down with that," Stephanie said, eyes still closed.

"Same," Brenda said. "How far to New York?"

"Less than an hour by plane," Tony said, checking his phone. "Don't go too overboard."

"It'll be fine," Claire said lazily, flapping on hand at him as she face-planted into the pillow nest. Stephanie lifted her coffee to keep it from spilling. "Wanda, Pietro, would you want to come with us?"

Wanda and Pietro exchanged looks. "Perhaps," Wanda said cautiously. "It depends-"

"The nurse said that I should be fine in a day," Pietro said.

She gave him a Look.

"Two days," he amended.

"No problem," Lori said. "Thanks, Tony."

"Have fun," he said absently, and left the room, still on his phone.

* * *

Pietro was right. His stitches were removed the day after, and they were on the plane to New York within the hour.

"What do we need?" Stephanie asked, as Claire turned the plane slightly.

"New wardrobes," Lori said immediately. She cut her eyes towards Wanda and Pietro, who were slowly warming up to the rest of the Young Avengers. Stephanie nodded and tapped her temple.

 _*I take it you'll take care of them?*_ Lori asked mentally.

Stephanie dropped her chin.

 _*They're so young,*_ she continued. _*They're teenagers. I think they're a few months younger than we are, Stephanie.*_

It took everything in her not to make a startled noise. Lori hid a grin. _*Did I just unleash Mama Bear?*_

Stephanie gave her a dirty look; then her shoulders slumped, and she nodded, a wry smile touching her lips.

Lori snorted and cut the connection.

They touched down an hour or so later on the flight deck of Avengers' Tower, and everyone piled out and into the elevator. "We'll go to one of the malls in the area and start there," Stephanie determined, as they tugged their hoodies up and pulling on sunglasses.

They looked like normal American teenagers; most of them wore jeans, tennis shoes, and hoodies. Lori and Wanda were exceptions- both of them wore black dresses, though Wanda's had red accents and Lori had green.

"This is Tony Stark we're talking about- he's rolling in it," Tasha said carelessly as they got closer to the garage. "Spend as much as you like- he won't notice."

Stephanie and Brenda exchanged nervous glances. "Why don't we split up?" Stephanie suggested. "I'll take my bike, if anyone wants a ride-"

"How fast can it go?" Pietro asked.

She hid a smile. "It can hit over 100 miles per hour on the open road- 160 kilometers an hour," she translated, after a moment's thought. "In the city, I rarely breech 75 kph or so."

"Would you mind?" he asked. She shook her head with a smile as she retrieved the keys and two helmets. Both were black, but hers had a silver star painted on the side of it. She handed him the other one and waved to the others.

"See you!" came the calls from the other Young Avengers as they loaded up to set out. Stephanie swung onto her bike and turned it one, smiling as the engine purred beneath her.

"C'mon," she told Pietro, offering him a hand. He got on behind her as she zipped up her leather jacket and made sure her scarf was in place. "Hold on if you need to- but I doubt we'll be going too fast."

She revved the engine, gave the others a peace sign, and took off out the garage door. Pietro whooped as she did a small jump off the point where the ramp levelled out and skidded into a wide alley. It emptied into one of the streets around Avenger's Tower, and she took the corner a bit sharply, gunned the engine, and took off.

They arrived at the mall less than ten minutes later, even with New York traffic. Stephanie found a series of parking spots and parked in one, pulling her helmet off and waiting patiently for the others. Within five minutes, the other two cars- nondescript suburbans, NOT in black- arrived and parked on either side of her.

"Very funny," Tasha grumbled as she got out of the car to Stephanie's right. "Where'd you even go?"

"I just went wherever I felt like and here we are," she said, and shrugged as she pulled her hood back up. "Pietro?"

He was grinning ear to ear. "Not as fun as running, but still very fun," he said.

Wanda got out, giving Stephanie a disapproving look, but it melted as she saw the smile on Pietro's face. "Who would you like to go with?" Brenda asked. "I think we're going in teams…"

"Yeah," Tasha said. "I'm going with Claire and Nathan- at least I assume I am, because I'm going with Claire and I doubt Nathan's going to go with anyone else."

"You're right," Nathan said, as he walked up behind Claire and wrapped his arms around her waist. She giggled hard as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"You two are gross," Stephanie said affectionately. "I'm going with Brenda and possibly Lori?"

"I believe I'll go with Lena," Lori said, linking an arm through her sister's. Stephanie caught her eyes and nodded slightly.

Pietro and Wanda exchanged looks. "I like her," Pietro said, and nudged Stephanie's side. "I'm sticking with her."

Stephanie laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. "You're more than welcome to it," she said warmly. "Wanda?"

"All right," Wanda said, after a minor hesitation. "Where will we go first?"

"There's an H&M that I want to go to," Stephanie said, looking over at Brenda. "You up for it?"

Brenda shrugged. "Sure," she said. "I like H&M."

"You have H&M here?" Wanda asked as they began walking to the mall entrance.

"Yep," Stephanie said, smiling at them. "They're just starting to show up in the US, though. It's always been a European chain, not so much an American one. I like them, though. I got a pair of jeans for twenty bucks once."

They walked in and immediately spotted the H&M. "What are you looking for?" Stephanie asked, looking over her shoulder as she walked in.

"I am not sure," Wanda said, hesitating. "I… I'd like more skirts, and leggings."

"You like scarves and shawls, correct?" Brenda asked. Wanda nodded. "Then we can look for some."

"And you?" Stephanie asked Pietro. He shrugged. "So… just clothes. Anything in particular?

"I need a new jacket," he said.

"All right, let's look for that to start with, then. If you don't find what you want, we can always look elsewhere-"

"Steffie, catch," Brenda called, and threw a pair of jeans at her. She caught it without looking and continued smoothly, "-because there's plenty of other stores around."

"How did you do that?" he asked, pointing at the jeans.

"Spatial awareness. When training starts up again, I'll work with you on that." She grinned at him. "That, and your speed. We're going to have a LOT of fun with Sam..."

"Who is he?" Pietro asked curiously, as they started sorting through shirts.

She held up a collared shirt and looked at it with a critical eye, before shrugging and handing it to him. "Sam Wilson's one of Dad's friends. You've not met him yet, but he goes by Falcon. Guy's great- he's a veteran helping other veterans." She paused and frowned. "Wonder why he wasn't at the battle."

"I do not know," Pietro said, and reached out to grab a jacket. "This one. I like this one." He checked the price tag and blanched, going to put it back on the rack before Stephanie grabbed it and checked the price herself.

"You can try it on," she decided, and handed it to him.

"Stephanie," he said, lowering his voice slightly and stepping closer, concern on his face. "We can not afford this."

Stephanie made a soft 'oh' noise and sighed. "Pietro," she murmured. "Stark is rich. This?" she tapped the price tag. "A drop in the bucket. If it helps any, then- treat yourself. It's Stark's money."

Pietro seemed a little more willing to shop after that.

After they finished in H&M, they moved on. Pietro wanted to go into the shoe store for tennis shoes, but Stephanie hauled him away with the promise of unlimited shoes- remember that room in the Tower? That, but on steroids- and dragged him to Hollister to try and shop.

"Why is it so dark in here?" he complained, as they tried to navigate their way through the store. "And it smells. And the music is loud- if you can call it music-"

Stephanie burst out laughing as she stopped in front of a rack of tee shirts and sorted through them. "You literally summed up Hollister in just a few sentences," she said, wheezing a bit as she pulled out a shirt and handed it to him. "Here. This'll work-"

"Excuse me?"

Stephanie straightened, a shiver of worry running down her back. "Yes?" she said, a pleasant smile on her face as she turned around.

It was an older woman, peering at them. "Do you work here?" she asked innocently.

It was all she could do to not laugh. "No, ma'am," she said. "I don't."

The woman looked startled. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "You were just helping this nice young man, and I thought…" She trailed off and peered closer. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

There it was. Stephanie's warm smile never faded. "No, ma'am, I don't believe I do. Perhaps I remind you of someone?" she prompted.

"That must be it," she said, though her frown barely diminished. "I'm sorry for bothering you two. Have a good day!"

"You too," Stephanie said, and let her smile drop when the woman was gone. "Thank you for not speaking," she murmured to Pietro. "I'm sorry, but it'd be hard to disguise your accent."

"It is no problem," Pietro said, with an easy smile. "I'm just your European friend who doesn't speak English." He shrugged. "I don't like this shirt, by the way."

"Good, we should get away. Don't want her thinking of where she's probably seen us from," Stephanie said, swiftly refolded the shirt, and put it on the stack, ushering him out.

They visited perhaps two more stores before they ran into Brenda and Wanda, coming out of Aeropostale, laden with bags as Stephanie and Pietro were. "Almost ready to go?" Brenda asked cheerfully.

"Just one more store," Stephanie said. "I need to grab a few things while I'm here." She made them sit down and put her bags beside them. "I'll be back in just a few. Come find me if you need me." She smiled, twiddled her fingers, and left.

The three of them were seated in front of a TV store, that was displaying commercials, but a few minutes after Stephanie left, the TVs changed, displaying the news.

"The cleanup in Sokovia goes on," the news anchor said, drawing their attention. Brenda tensed, grabbing for her phone as she checked Wanda and Pietro. They were shifting closer to each other, eyes glued to the TVs. "Billionaire Tony Stark has been donating millions of dollars towards cleanup and reparations for the robot 'Ultron'. As time goes on and the death count continues to rise, however, humanity is starting to wonder- when will this stop?"

Brenda was already on her feet, calling Stephanie. "Steffie, we got a situation," she said, the second Stephanie picked up. Her bags and Stephanie's were in her hands as she ushered the Maximoffs towards the cars.

"I'm paying and I'll be back to the car in a minute," Stephanie said immediately. "What happened?"

"News report," Brenda said tightly.

She ushered the Maximoffs around people and towards the parking garage, careful to make sure hers and their faces were covered as a glance back told her amateur cell phone footage had captured their likenesses. Of all the Young Avengers, she and Tasha were the safest when it came to identification; Mini-Hulk mutated her features enough that no one could really match her up with her alter-ego, and Tasha was inside the suit about 95% of the time.

"Shit," Stephanie breathed. "I'm going as soon as I'm done."

"Good. Get the others."

"On it."

Brenda hung up and pulled out the keys as they got to the parking garage. "Put your stuff in the back and get in," she ordered. "Stephanie should be back in a minute or two."

Sure enough, Stephanie returned less than two minutes later and threw her bags in the back. "Everyone else is winding down," she reported. "We'll rendezvous back at the Tower and get out. Claire said she's already getting weird looks and someone started asking us questions in Hollister."

Lori and Lena raced up as she grabbed her helmet out of the passenger seat and said, "Meet you back at the tower. Let's move."

"Dibs on the bike," Lori said, grabbing the second helmet and pulling it on as Lena dropped their bags in the backseat. "Let's move."

They drove back to the Tower as fast as they could. "Show them to the gym, once you're back," Lori said, through the helmet intercoms. "They'll be angry as hell and probably more than a little scared and sad."

"No duh," Stephanie said, as she wove through traffic. "Let's hope they can hold it in until we get back. Get my stuff on the plane?"

"Sure."

They almost skidded into the parking spot and were swinging off as soon as the bike came to a stop. "Jarvis!" Stephanie shouted, before stopping and feeling an ache in her chest. "I mean, Friday."

"Yes, Miss Rogers?" the Scottish voice asked from above, and Lori looked a little lost too.

"I need directions to the gym. The shopping trip didn't go so well towards the end."

"It's on the thirtieth floor, the entire thing," Friday said. "May I ask what went wrong?"

"See for yourself. See what the newscasts over the past few days have been talking about."

They dawdled, leaning against the bike as Friday was silent. "I see," she said, but her voice lacked the inflection Jarvis had had. "I understand now. I'll endeavor to keep such news away from the Maximoffs in the future."

They exchanged startled looks. "Thank you, Friday," Stephanie said, hoping her surprise wasn't showing.

"Of course." A pause, and then- "I know I am not Jarvis. But… Sir tried to program me to be like Jarvis. I haven't 'lived' as long as he has. But I can learn."

Stephanie paused. She and Lori looked at each other.

"That's fair," Lori said softly, as the Suburban pulled into the garage. "Thank you, Friday."

They were waiting as the Suburban stopped and the teens piled out. Stephanie was already striding forwards, eyes worried, arms opening.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "If you want a hug, I'm always here or around-"

To her shock, Wanda stepped forwards and hugged her without a sound. She hugged the Sokovian girl back hard, smoothing her back and murmuring with no real words.

"I'm sorry we finished up the trip so soon," she said, as she drew away and reached out a hand to Pietro. He slowly took it, and she drew him into a brief hug as well. "Maybe another time we can go back."

"There's always online shopping," Brenda said.

There were wan smiles all around.

"Let's go home," Stephanie murmured.

They nodded, and left the garage.


	16. Chapter 16

So I haven't updated in a while. Sorry. I broke up with my boyfriend, got a 49 on a test, got tentatively diagnosed with mild depression, and the list goes on- and that's just in the past week.

Still aiming for 75 comments. I have quite a few hilarious shorts to post. I think you'll like them. :)

Review replies:

Wait so like half of you are shipping Pietro/Stephanie? What even. XD No, that's not what I was going for, but hey if you want to sail that ship I ain't exactly gonna say no.

Neyite: More Vision will be forthcoming. He's really hard to write, actually. I don't even know how to explain WHY it's hard to write, he just kinda... is.

Phoenix: Oh, you're going to LOVE this chapter.

Actually-Lori and IronMaiden: Yeah you aren't fooling anyone, least of all me, dearie.

And now some flashbacks to other movies. Here we go!

* * *

The mood when they arrived back at the Avenger's new base was grave. Those not present had been filled in on what happened; their jovial mood upon return to the Tower had disintegrated.

When they arrived back at the Avenger's compound, however, their afternoon took an abrupt upswing. Stephanie, in the process of carrying as many bags as she could, was facing away from the kitchen area as she walked through the door, talking over her shoulder.

"What's that smell?" Nathan asked as he entered close behind. "Smells amazing."

"That would be dinner," a somewhat familiar voice said.

Stephanie whirled, bags flying. "Sam!" she shrieked with glee, and raced over to drop her bags near the chairs, before running back to throw both arms around Sam Wilson.

Sam caught her, laughing as he squeezed her back. She kicked her feet several times in glee as he lifted her up off the floor in a bear hug.

"Sam!" Nathan exclaimed, grinning ear to ear as Sam let Stephanie down and reached out to shake hands firmly with did what the girls had christened the 'manly hug', shaking hands and pulling each other in for slaps on the back.

"When did you get in?!" Stephanie asked, bouncing up and down like a child in sheer excitement.

"About five hours ago. Steve called and said that he was starting training in a few days, wanted to ask if I could move in early. So-" and Sam gestured to the kitchen. "Here I am!"

"And you're making dinner?" Stephanie asked, jumping onto the countertop and swinging her feet.

"Don't worry about your bags," Lori called, flicking her hands and picking up Stephanie's stuff. "Chat with your friend." Her voice was only just this side of sarcastic. Stephanie fluttered her fingers at her friend.

"So why weren't you at the fight?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"I was… tracing leads," he said.

"Any luck?" Nathan asked, lowering his voice to almost inaudible.

Sam sighed as he returned to the dough he was making. "Not really. Some, but not much."

Stephanie lowered her chin and sighed as the others began flooding back in. "Bet Dad's not happy," she murmured, then lifted her chin again. "So. Dinner?"

"Pizza."

"Oh God yes," she said, and hopped off the counter immediately, already rolling up her sleeves. "Where do you need my help?"

"The sauce is on the stove," he said, and she went to inspect the pot. "Nathan, I'll need you on helping with the dough. Any of your friends good in the kitchen?"

"I am," Wanda said, as she emerged from her room. "As is Pietro. We helped our mother-" She had to pause. "We helped our mother, in the kitchen. When we were young."

There was a pause. Then- "I don't believe we've met," Sam said, turning to look at them. The look on his face betrayed him; Stephanie would bet solid money on Steve having told him about the Maximoffs' backstory.

"Wanda Maximoff," she introduced herself.

"Pietro. Stephanie has… mentioned you."

"Oh, has she?" Sam said, turning to look at Stephanie, who was grinning unashamedly. "Good things- I hope."

"Pietro has superspeed," she said, in a somewhat childish voice, as she stirred the sauce. "I told him we're gonna have lots and lots of fun with you."

"Come on!" Sam cried, sounding extremely exasperated. "Can't you let that die already?!"

"Never!" Stephanie said in return, laughing hard at that. "Let that die? It's too fun!"

"Let what die?" Wanda asked curiously, as she returned from her room.

"On your left," Stephanie and Nathan chorused together, a wicked gleam in their eyes, as Sam groaned and threw his head back.

* * *

 _Stephanie raced along the sidewalk around the Reflection Pool, giggling madly as she did her very best to outrun Steve. "Stephanie," he called, as her laughter increased in volume. "Slow down!"_

" _Too fast for you?" she shouted over her shoulder, watching as he rolled his eyes and sped up. She laughed harder and ran as fast as she could, turning to watch as a man started to approach in front of her._

 _Her eyes sparked; she was glad Steve wasn't there to see the evil grin that spread over her face. She altered her path somewhat and slowed a bit._

" _On your right," she said, gleeful as she passed Sam Wilson on his right side._

" _On your left," Steve said a few seconds later._

 _They lapped him again at the Lincoln Memorial. This time, Stephanie had slowed to keep up with Steve._

" _On your left," he said._

" _And your right," Stephanie said, only just not laughing out loud._

" _On my left and right, got it," Sam said, sounding annoyed._

 _The third time they lapped him, he sped up, glancing over his shoulder at the sound of their running footsteps. "Don't you do it, don't you-" he said, but it was too late._

" _On your left," Steve said, not even breaking a smile._

 _Stephanie was nowhere near as reserved. Her face split into a wide grin as she added, "And your right!"_

" _Come on!" Sam roared, as they took off._

* * *

"So you were here," Pietro said. "But we have not heard of you except for the battle in New York."

"We've all been here- what, at least twice," Nathan said, gesturing to the group in the room. "Except, I think, for Claire."

"Poor Claire," Claire herself said grumpily. "Had to sit at home like a good little girl while the others went off and took down shadowy organizations."

"Hey, not your fault he wasn't in any of them," Tasha said, ruffling her hair. "And besides, Brenda technically didn't come back either."

"Technically," the young woman said. "But at the same time, I kind of did."

* * *

 _Tasha set her sunglasses on her nose and walked forwards, high heels clicking against the tile as it turned to concrete. She was easily as tall as Tony in the three-inch heels she'd borrowed from Pepper, and her skirt and suit jacket made her feel much more powerful._

 _The reporters were waiting around his car, and they parted like the Red Sea before the Starks. Questions started flying. She did her best to ignore them._

" _Hey, Mr. Stark! When is someone gonna kill this guy?"_

 _They both whipped around to stare at the young man who'd asked. Tasha took a deep breath and continued walking to the car._

" _Just saying," the guy said, with a smarmy smirk._

 _Tasha leaned against the car and glared at anyone who tried to shove a microphone in her face. At the same time, she studied the crowd as Tony began to speak. She could've sworn there was a familiar face in there…_

" _Is that what you want?" Tony asked, voice low and dark. He glared at the reporters and drew himself up taller. "Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now." He took off his sunglasses and stared right into a camera phone. "My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880, Malibu Port, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked."_

 _The reporters went crazy as Tasha got in the passenger seat and ignored the questions. "Mr. Stark, who is the young woman with you?" "Is it true that she's your illegitimate daughter?" "What are_ your _thoughts on the Mandarin?"_

 _She couldn't keep silent any longer. "Wait," she muttered to Tony, and slid her sunglasses up her forehead, revealing angry brown eyes._

" _My name is Tasha Stark," she started, sending murmurs through the crowd of reporters. "I am not Tony's daughter in blood. I am, however, good friends with him, and he's more of a father to me than my real father."_

 _She paused, and held up a hand as questions began to pour in. "I have a message for the Mandarin, as well- It's two against your army, Mandarin. You may like those odds. I wouldn't, were I you. You may want to rethink going after my father, specifically, because I don't like you, and I want you to know that. If you try to hurt anyone else close to us, close to me, guess what- we're coming after you with everything we have. And you definitely,_ definitely _won't like the results."_

 _She slammed her sunglasses down over her eyes and stared forwards. "Floor it," she muttered, and he started to pull away. As he did, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar face watching them._

 _Her head whipped to the side, and she locked eyes with Brenda._

" _Bren?" she whispered softly, staring._

 _Brenda smiled and waved to her, and vanished._

* * *

"But I wasn't actually there, so much," Brenda pointed out, from her seat on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands. "I was more like a ghost. I was watching everything from dreams, more than anything else."

"So you dreamed everything that happened?" Tasha asked. "I never asked."

"Yep. Sometimes I was there just to watch. Other times I could help- like when you crashed in Tennessee, remember that?"

"How could I?" Tasha asked, laughing hard at that. "You had to guide our sorry asses to civilization. Man, Tony was _pissed_ that he couldn't see what I was following, especially since I wouldn't tell him…"

"I was there," Brenda pointed out.

"But they weren't!" Tasha complained, gesturing to the room as a whole.

"So let's see- who all did come back?" Stephanie asked, from her place in the kitchen, where she was overseeing Sam, Pietro, and Nathan work on pizza crusts. "Nathan and I came back at the same time, Tasha kind of had Brenda with her, then-"

"Lena and I returned as well, don't forget," Lori said, smiling at her friend as she sat down elegantly in an arm chair.

"Duh!" Stephanie thumped her forehead. "How could I forget that?!"

"I do not know," Lena said solemnly, "But it did not end well for all."

Lori lowered her head. "Indeed," she murmured. "It… it didn't end well." Then her face brightened marginally. "But we managed to save Frigga!"

"What happened?" Wanda asked. "Who is 'Frigga'?"

* * *

 _Lena stumbled slightly as the light show around her vanished. "What was that?" she demanded, spinning to look at Lori._

" _I've not the slightest clue," Lori said, before choking on her words. "Lena, your clothes!"_

" _My clothes?" Lena looked down._

 _Her tee shirt and jeans were gone, replaced with a crinkling silver dress that reached the floor. It had medium-length sleeves, loose on her arms, and was accented in red velvet and black silk. She wore a dark cloak over it, and as she felt her hair, it was pulled up into a braid that coiled around her head._

 _Lori's clothing was similar, though her dress was shorter at knee length and a much darker silver fabric, accented in green velvet and gold silk. The sleeves were longer than wrist length, tight against her skin, and had holes for her thumbs to go through. Her cloak was black as well, but seemed to shimmer in the dull light. She wore black leggings and boots that reached her knees, black leather and supple fabric. Her black hair was in a tight braid that fell down her back._

" _Are we home?" Lena asked breathlessly._

" _Lena?"_

 _She whirled, staring at the person who'd called her name. Her face broke into a broad grin._

" _Thor!" she cried, and covered the distance between them in seconds, hurling both arms tightly around him. Thor hugged her back tightly and lifted her off the ground. "Lori, we're home!"_

" _I gathered that," Lori said, sounding amused. "Hello, Heimdall, Jane Foster."_

" _Hello," Heimdall said, inclining his head to her. She curtseyed back._

" _Hello," Jane said hesitantly. "Aren't you… Lori?"_

" _Lori Lokisdoitter, madam," Lori said, with a charming smile and a curtsey to her as well. "That's my sister, Lena Thorsdoitter."_

" _Thor's daughter?" Jane asked._

" _A figure of speech," Lena said as she let go of Thor. "We are not related by blood, but I have claimed him as my father." She smiled broadly at Thor. "If that is all right with you…"_

" _Of course. You learned how the Aesir create names?" Thor asked, smiling back._

" _Aye. Lori did research when we returned home, since both of us were not sons of Odin," Lena said dryly._

" _Indeed," Thor said, still smiling. "Come, come, we must make haste to the palace."_

" _Welcome to Asgard," Heimdall said, and gestured for them to leave the Bifrost._

 _They travelled to the palace, though it took a while, as Jane was a child in a candy store with everything Asgardian. Lori and Lena exchanged fond, if slightly exasperated, glances all the way to the palace._

 _"Remember our first visit?" Lena murmured. A thread of a smile snaked across Lori's face as she nodded once._

 _There, a familiar face was waiting for her. "My son, welcome home," a voice called from a fair distance away, as they walked up the steps to the palace entrance. Lena's face lit up._

" _Frigga!" she cried, and sprinted up the two sets of stairs still before her._

 _Frigga's confusion morphed into joy as she recognized the face coming to greet her. "Lena!" she said, opening her arms to the young woman. Lena happily accepted the hug, burying her face in the woman's shoulder and hugging her back._

" _Oh, don't give me that look, dear," Frigga said to Lori, who hung back, not looking at the older woman. "Come here."_

 _Lori hugged the woman as well, relaxing as Frigga stroked her back._

" _Hello, grandmother," she whispered, and Frigga hugged her a little tighter. "We're home."_

* * *

"So you saved her?" Wanda asked.

"Yes. We helped her fight against Alduin and Malekith. He wasn't expecting us, and retreated after he realized that Lori was not, in any way, like her father."

"He is still my father, in all but blood," she pointed out.

"You know, we keep saying that, but at least one of us can claim that their father is their father by blood," Brenda pointed out.

"Really?" Claire asked curiously, as she perched on the back of the couch. "Who?"

Brenda pointed at Stephanie. Understanding dawned on Claire's face.

"The blood transfusion," Tasha said, snapping her fingers. "Of course!"

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"During our first visit here, Stephanie had an injury that she refused to seek treatment for," Lori said, with a disapproving glare. "In the end, she required a blood transfusion from Steve. So, technically, yes- she's Steve's daughter, including in blood."

"Fantastic," Nathan said, as he gestured for Stephanie to put sauce on the pizza. "So don't get a blood transfusion from Natasha and I'll be fine."

"What's that about a blood transfusion?" Natasha herself asked as she walked in, flanked by Steve. "And who's cooking?"

"Natasha!" Sam said, straightening from putting one of the pizzas in the oven and grinning at her. "Great to see you again."

She smiled at him. "Hey Sam. Smells good."

"Dad!" Stephanie said happily, bouncing over to hug Steve tightly. "You didn't tell me you were bringing Sam in!"

"I figured it would be a nice surprise," he said, smiling fondly at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Pizza?"

"Yum," came a chorus from the rest of the Young Avengers.

Stephanie almost bent double laughing at the looks on the others' faces.


	17. Chapter 17

Thanks for the two reviews and the support. My semester just ramped up, so expect more spaced-out updates. I'll do my best to update in a timely fashion, though...

Thanks for the reviews, and keep aiming for 75 likes. Got some super funny snippets for you.

More of the plan appears now. Things... don't go well.

But first! Training montage!

* * *

"C'mon, Pietro! Five laps for every one of ours!" Steve shouted.

He and Stephanie sprinted down the long track that led around the facility. A blue blur flew past them, pausing barely long enough for Pietro to make a complaining noise. "Don't give us that," Stephanie said, flapping a hand at him.

"All right, let's rise a little higher," Lori said to Wanda, hovering a good five feet off the ground on a disk made of green magic. Wanda wobbled a few feet below her, unsteady at best on the disk she'd created of red. "Steady…"

Wanda tipped over as part of the disk became too thin. She yelped as she plummeted, only for a second green disk to catch her. Lori sighed. "New plan, then. Balancing one-oh-one. Let's go inside and get started."

"No, no, you're leaving your side wide open," Natasha said impatiently, tapping Nathan's side with the baton. "Arm _up_ , or you get a bullet or fist in the side."

He groaned and tried again, going at Claire as fast as he could move. Natasha stepped back and observed.

"Stop," she said. Claire groaned and tapped Nathan's side with the side of her hand. "Arms _UP_ , Romanoff!"

Lena grinned as she faced off against Mini-Hulk. "You get first strike," she said, gesturing to herself. "Be my guest."

Mini roared and lunged, swinging a meaty fist at Lena. She dodged smoothly and darted forwards, punching Mini's side. "Come on, Mini!" she cried. "I am sturdy- you will not hurt me-"

Mini finally caught her and punched her side, sending her flying. She tumbled through the air, only for a red and green net to catch her. Lori sighed theatrically as she walked out of the indoor training gym, part of her attention on Lena and the other on the balance beam she was floating through the air. Behind her, Wanda frowned in concentration as she walked forwards, holding up two mats and the other half of the net.

"Christmasy," Tasha commented, hovering over their heads. "Great job, Mini-Thor."

"That's enough," Lena said, with no real malice. "Well done!" she called to Mini.

Mini grunted, a half-smile appearing on her green face.

"Tasha, focus on yourself!" Sam shouted as he shot past, tapping her shoulder with his foot. She growled and kicked herself into high-gear, shooting towards him- before Rhodey caught her attention and she abruptly changed course, smacking his shoulder with the clang of metal-on-metal.

"You're it!" she crowed. Rhodey groaned and took off after them.

Stephanie tracked Pietro's figure around the path they ran along. "He's about to lap us," she said. As he raced past, Steve hit a button on his phone, marking the fourth time he'd passed them.

"He better run faster," she murmured. They were less than a hundred yards from their first lap, and he had to lap them one last time.

"Steady, steady…" Lori murmured, watching Wanda balance on the balance beam. "Steady now-"

Wanda teetered and fell to the side. The mat caught her and she made a face as she sat up.

"Let's try again. This is important, Wanda- you need to be able to balance to fly."

Mini gave a wordless roar as she swung at Lena again. The hit glanced off Mjolnir, which she was borrowing. "Keep it up, friend!" Lena shouted joyously.

Tasha shot right between them, brushing Mini's fist with her armor as she avoided both of them. Sam cursed and turned his attention back to Rhodey, who hovered overhead. Lena looked up and swore she could see Rhodey's eyes widen behind his armor.

"Oh, sh-" he said and turned tail, shooting towards the other end of the field, Sam hot on his heels.

Natasha sighed wearily and walked forward. "Nathan, did you forget everything I taught you last time you were here? Watch me." She took his place in front of Claire, who looked mildly terrified. "Attack me," she ordered.

Claire obeyed with a positively lousy punch.

Natasha dropped her stance and gave Claire an exasperated look. "I'm not going to snap your neck," she snapped. "Now, try that again, and actually TRY to attack me this time."

Stephanie picked up the pace as she saw Pietro approaching behind them. "I'm gonna beat you!" she shouted, as fast as she could so he'd hear her. The finish line was less than ten feet away. She sprinted over the line, Steve a few steps behind her, and Pietro brought up the rear.

He skidded to a halt a few feet in front of them, gasping for breath and clutching a stitch in his side. "Didn't beat us," Steve said. "You've got a ways to go."

He groaned and leaned forwards, panting hard. Stephanie walked over to him and leaned forwards herself, tilting his chin up so he'd meet her eyes.

"Straighten up," she advised. "Leaning over only makes the cramp in your side worse."

He did so.

"Which side?"

He touched his left side.

"Then lift that arm into the air and rest it on your head. That'll stretch out the muscles." She made sure he obeyed and then gestured with her head. "Keep walking. We need to cool down so you don't seize up."

He groaned and followed her and Steve.

"Don't you love training day?" Lori called conversationally to Lena as Wanda teetered and fell off the balance beam for the tenth time.

Lena didn't have time to answer before Mini roared and went at her again.

Lori sighed. "Typical."

* * *

Things were going well, around the new Avengers' Base. Personnel was flooding in, as rooms were finished and opened. Helen Cho moved into the medical wing, scheduling check-ups for all the Avengers and Young Avengers within the next few months. Maria Hill showed up out of the blue one day and took over handling information. There were rumors floating around that Sharon Carter was in the process of being recruited for training recruits.

It was all going a little TOO well.

The first sign of trouble was the babble of Sokovian from the hallway. The Avengers and Young Avengers were watching a movie, minus Lori and the twins. The voice from the hallway was audible even in the room.

"Friday, pause the movie," Tony said, as soon as he heard the voices. "Who is that?"

"It appears that Miss Maximoff and Miss Lokisdoitter have gotten into a fight, though it seems to be one sided. Miss Maximoff is shouting in Sokovian. They're heading this way."

The Young Avengers exchanged subtle looks. "Looks like Wanda figured out what happened," Claire muttered in Nathan's ear, from their position curled up together like cats.

"Oh, this is gonna get nasty," Nathan murmured in return.

The doors flew open, and Lori strode in, trench coat tails flapping behind her. Wanda was trying to keep up, though her legs were shorter. Pietro was a few steps behind her. "Why would you do that?" she demanded, glaring at Lori.

Lori spun to stare her down. "I did what I felt was necessary," she snapped. "I'm not ashamed of what I had to do."

"What's this about?" Clint asked, standing up and looking between the two.

"She-" and Wanda pointed an angry finger at Lori- "made me think my brother was dead! She manipulated me!"

"And how was that any different from what you did at the base in Sokovia, when they first retrieved the sceptre?" Lori asked in return, crossing her arms over her chest. Her back was ramrod straight. "You played with their minds as well. How is this different?"

"Manipulated you how?" Sam asked.

"Pietro and I- we are twins. We have a mental connection. It was there before Hydra experimented on us, and it only grew stronger after we got our powers. She- she cut it, or shielded it, or did something like that to us! She made me think he was dead!"

"What I did, I did with good reason," Lori said sharply. "I don't expect you to understand. I don't expect you to accept it. But it had to be done."

"Why? Why did it have to be done?"

Lori hesitated.

"Because something had to stay the same, even if I did end up saving Pietro," Claire said. Her voice was calm and quiet. Wanda turned her red gaze on the other young woman.

"I suppose it's time to tell you our story, then," Stephanie said. "Why we were so welcoming, why everything we did, had to happen." She moved to sit on the back of the couch and studied the Maximoffs with a level eye. "We knew what was going to happen."

"How would you know?" Pietro asked, as he sat down on the countertop. "You have no mental powers- as far as we know."

Stephanie snorted and shook her head, but it was Lena that spoke up this time. "We do not belong in this universe," she said simply. "Have you ever heard the theory of multiple universes?"

"That there are an infinite number of universes? Yes. Why?"

"Well, we're from one of those alternate universes," Tasha said. "Where we're from, none of you-" and she encompassed the room with a wave of her hand- "exist. What does exist are the movies."

Nathan anticipated the question before it came. "This whole thing- everything that happened, from our arrival onward- was a movie. We knew what happened in one iteration of this universe, one where we don't arrive. Most of these guys know this already. We just never had a good time to tell you."

"Lori did have good reason for doing what she did," Claire said softly. "In the movie, Pietro sacrificed his own life to save Clint and a kid he went after. None of us could let that happen. None of us wanted to let it happen. I suppose Lori just took some matters into her own hands."

"Why? Why not just save my brother and be done with it?"

"Because you had to kill Ultron's main body," Lori said. Her voice was completely devoid of emotion. "No one else could do it. It had to be you, and it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't felt your brother die. The city had to drop. There was so much that had to happen. Was what I did wrong? Perhaps. But no more wrong than what you did to Stark's head, or Rogers', or Romanoff's or Odinson's or Banner's." She met Wanda's blazing gaze with cold green eyes. "I don't regret it."

She turned and walked away, making her way back to her room. She left a room full of silence behind her.

"Right," Stephanie murmured, stood up, and walked out the doors, footfalls fading as she walked down the hall.

The other Young Avengers dispersed in silence, leaving their elders and friends to contemplate what had passed in the silence.

* * *

"Up here," Stephanie called softly, as Claire walked into the training room. The archer looked up; Stephanie sat, crosslegged, on a small perch near the roof of the room.

It took Claire all of thirty seconds to clamber up to Stephanie. When she arrived, she sat down next to the other girl, letting her feet dangle into open space.

"That was f**king terrifying," Claire muttered. "I thought Wanda was gonna smite Lori."

Stephanie snorted. "Have a little more faith in her than that."

They sat in silence for a long time, just observing the empty training room. Claire shot a glance at Stephanie after a while.

"What is it?" she asked.

Claire shrugged. "I dunno. You just seem to have taken the Maximoffs under your wing."

Stephanie sighed and uncrossed her legs, letting one dangle over the ledge. "Is that what this is about? They're children, Claire, they're younger than we are by a few months. Pietro dying in the movie didn't help a bit. Poor babies, lost so much and now they're here…"

"Careful," Claire warned. "They'd never let you hear the end of it if they heard that."

"Who heard what?"

"Anyone, really, hearing you refer to them as babies."

"They _are_ , that's the problem," she muttered.

Claire snickered, then sighed. "They are," she admitted. "They remind me of my half-sibs, back home."

"You do act similarly around them," Stephanie observed. "Little wonder, then."

They were silent for a while longer, before Claire said, "I expected to find you with Lori."

Stephanie shook her head and looked around for cameras or microphones. There were none in the immediate vicinity. She blocked her mouth with her hands in a casual fashion, just in case, before saying, "I have to distance myself from her, a bit. Wanda can't know that Lori and I came up with the plan together."

"Why not?" Claire asked.

"The War." Stephanie's voice was ominous.

Claire fell silent. "She needs to be able to trust us," she muttered. "Lori sacrificed herself so that Wanda would continue trusting you."

Stephanie nodded her head. Her shoulders slumped; it looked like the burden of her secret was tangible, visceral, weighing down heavy on her shoulders. "I didn't want to do it, but it made too much sense. I couldn't say no."

Claire shrugged, staring at the empty room. "I don't blame you, but I also don't blame her," she said. "Just keep in mind- eventually, the truth will come out, no matter what. She'll be furious that you lied to her."

"I know," Stephanie said, eyes blank as she stared into the far distance. "I want to tell her, but I can't. I just… can't."

Claire shifted in her seat. "We'll see how this all works out in the long run, then."

* * *

Lori sat on her bed, crosslegged, absolutely motionless. Her face was stone-like, revealing none of her internal turmoil.

She had to do it, she reminded herself. Stephanie was her sister in everything but blood, and it was important. Wanda had to believe that Lori was the sole arbiter of the plan. The trust had to be strong between the two of them.

Why, then, did she feel so terrible?

There was a knock at the door. "Stephanie?" she called, expecting the familiar light voice to respond.

"Uh… no."

Her brows furrowed. "Nathan?"

She flicked her wrist. The door unlocked and opened, revealing the young man.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

She nodded. "Is something wrong?"

"No." He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, walking to her desk and pulling out the chair to sit in.

"Does your girlfriend know you're here?" Lori asked curiously.

He nodded. "I just wanted to see how you were doing, I guess."

"You guess?" Lori asked incredulously. "Noble of you. I'm fine."

Nathan shook his head at that. "Y'know, if dating Claire for a long time has taught me anything, it's that 'I'm fine' means you aren't."

"So you're going to pester me until I tell you?" she asked. "I'd not advise doing that."

"No, no. I just… wanted to see if you wanted to talk it out."

"Nice of you to offer. I don't need to."

"Ok." Nathan stood up.

She raised one eyebrow. "So you're _not_ going to push it?"

He shrugged. "Why would I do that? You're not willing to talk, and I don't want to waste my and your time."

She stared at the wall, contemplating something as he moved to the door. "Tell me," she said, as he rested his hand on the doorknob. "What did you feel when Bea didn't like you, when Claire first introduced you to her family?"

He paused, mulling the odd question over. "Disappointment. I wondered what I'd done wrong, why she didn't like me," he said, after a moment.

"Interesting. That's what I'm feeling, only… I know what I did wrong." Her voice was puzzled. "I didn't want them to like me… I don't think."

"Is this an invitation to sit back down?"

"If you want, I suppose. I doubt you'll be here long."

He sat back down. "If you want some advice…"

"Go on." Why not? She didn't have anything better to do.

"There's a difference between needing and wanting someone to like you. Plenty of people can survive on someone not liking them. I didn't need Bea's seal of approval to survive, but I wanted it. Maybe that's how it is for you- you don't need them to like you, but at the same time, you want them to."

Lori slowly nodded. "I could see that," she admitted. "I didn't feel like this when I hid Frigga from Thor and Father, though."

Nathan contemplated that, leaning forwards so that both elbows rested on his knees. His hands were knitted together. "Who took the blame for Frigga concealing her survival?" he asked eventually.

"Frigga did." What he was pointing at started to take shape in Lori's mind.

"You didn't have to take the blame," Nathan said quietly. "You had someone to step in front of you, to raise a hand and say, 'it was my idea, not hers.' That's what you are to Stephanie, now, as Frigga was to you."

Lori looked up at him. "When did you become so wise?" she asked.

Nathan shrugged and sat back, spreading his hands wide. "I don't know. Recently, I guess. Claire may not look like it, but she's sensitive."

"And you're saying I am?" Lori asked in her most haughty tone.

Nathan backpedalled. "No, of course not-"

She laughed, a shadow of her normal laughter, and waved a hand at him. "I'm joking. Thanks."

"Feel better?" he asked as he stood up.

There was a period of silence, while Lori hesitated. "I believe so," she said finally. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Nathan turned the door handle and paused for another moment. "If you need any advice, Claire and I both are always around. You just have to find us."

She nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." Even though chances were good she'd never take him up on it.


	18. Chapter 18

You would not BELIEVE the semester I've been having. Also I'm now technically a redhead, which is a weird feeling, but eh, I like the color. I've also just been flippin' DELUGED with homework. So yeah, FML.

That is also my explanation for why I haven't updated in approximately half a month? Over? Geez. Falling down on the job here... Super long chapter, completely on accident, to try to make up for that.

Anyways! Guess who you get to see a lot of today!

Enjoy!

* * *

Things returned to... not normal, but stable enough, the next day. Wanda and Lori avoided each other like the other had the plague, and Wanda dragged Pietro with her, so the twins avoided Lori and Lori avoided the group.

Tensions between the twins and the rest of the Young Avengers were high, due to the revelation of the previous afternoon. Pietro seemed unsure, wavering on what to think of them lying or withholding the truth from the twins. Wanda was mostly angry, from what they could tell.

There was one party they'd mostly forgotten about, in favor of the twins. The Vision was still adjusting to life in the world, with a body. He'd been observing the Young Avengers and their adult counterparts for as long as they'd been in the base, but rarely interacted with them in depth. Any conversations were brief conversations about the weather, how training was going, or various other light conversation topics.

He'd watched the incident the previous evening with something that he believed was best characterized as shock and confusion. The fact that they'd known what was happening before and during the battle- that they knew he'd be created- was something of more than mild interest to him.

He wanted to learn more.

So he set out to find the Young Avenger he knew… he supposed 'best' wasn't the term, but it would have to do.

Tasha was working in a lab, muttering as she bent over something on the table in front of her. "What even- Ja- Friday, pull up blueprints of this thing? Why the hell is it so bulky?"

"Acquiring blueprints, Tasha," Friday said. After a moment, blueprints appeared in front of her, displaying the Widow's Bite bracelets Nathan and Natasha wore.

"Who the hell designed this? This is shit!" Tasha exclaimed angrily, standing up and poking angrily at a part, examining it as it hovered over her palm, and throwing it back into the blueprint. "Break it down to the base components, Friday, we're rebuilding this."

"Alright," Friday said, and most of the blueprint disappeared.

"Miss Stark," Vision said.

"Yeah, J?" Tasha said absently, before she stopped and stared at the wall for a minute. "Sorry, Vision. What's up?"

"I… wished to speak with you. May I sit?"

Tasha turned her chair around to look at him. "Sure. Shut it down for now, Friday. Is something wrong?"

He hesitated as he drifted over to a stool and pulled it over to sit near her. "Nothing is wrong," he assured her. "I just… wished to discuss what happened with the Maximoffs."

"What about what happened?" Tasha asked.

The Vision observed the young woman before him. He had memories, of sorts, both from Jarvis and Ultron. He drew most heavily on Jarvis' memories, and that was where he went now, dredging up what the AI had seen of her when she was last present.

Her hair had changed. She'd shaved the right side of her head and dyed the tips of her hair dark red. The hair was growing back out now. She needed to get it touched up again. It was a trivial detail, but he noticed because she reached up to grab a strand of hair and twist it through her fingers. Her eyes were unreadable, but her foot was tapping slightly, bouncing her entire leg with it.

"This is nothing bad," he reassured her once more. "But Jarvis remembers you speaking of this before. I do not fully understand. How can you know what has happened?"

"We said it was movies," Tasha said, as her foot calmed. She continued weaving her hair through her fingers, though. "Everything- well, almost everything that happened occurred on the big screen for us. We watched it, we came here, we made decisions. Some of us are just regretting those decisions." She shrugged. "What more is there to say?"

Now it was time for the real question- the reason Vision had truly come to see her. "What was my part in those movies, or what is it to be?"

Tasha completely froze. He caught her heart rate increase as she stared at him. Her free hand drifted up to touch her arc reactor- which was odd, because Jarvis remembered Mr. Stark having his removed- as she just looked at him.

"I don't know," she said finally. "Well, not completely. I can make an educated guess." Her eyes drifted up and locked with the gold gem on his forehead.

"The Mind Stone," he murmured.

She dipped her head. "Yeah. The Mind Stone. Do you have some of Jarvis' memories, remember what it did before the Battle for New York, when we first came?"

"Mr. Stark said that it corrupted several minds," Vision said.

"Yeah. Lori's dad, Loki, used it for his own use- though we think he was possibly under its influence as well." Tasha leaned back on the table, hair still wound through her fingers. "It's very, very dangerous in the wrong hands. The fact that you have it would be worrying, if not for the fact that you can pick up Mjolnir."

"Why was everyone so surprised?" the Vision asked her. "I understand, somewhat- Thor explained what it meant, that I was able to wield Mjolnir, but he was not entirely…"

"Modern?" Tasha suggested. "See, the thing about Mjolnir is that it's at least partially sentient. It can choose its user. It chose Thor, it chose Lena, and it chose you." She fell quiet for a moment, musing aloud, "I wonder if any of us could use it…" Then she shook herself and continued, "See, that's not a little thing, being able to wield Mjolnir. It means you're pure of heart, and worthy to use all the power that comes with Mjolnir. The fact that even Steve Rogers, Captain America, can't use it? Means you're a seriously good guy. Ergo, we trust you not turning evil on us thanks to the big Iron Baby that started to create you."

Vision mused over this for a few moments. "So I am to protect the Mind Stone?" he asked.

Tasha's face was grim as he looked at her. "Vision, can I trust you with a secret?" she asked in return. Slightly startled, he nodded. "Good."

She sat back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling. "Friday, maximum security protocols in place. Clearance level to access this must be Y-A-ten. Acknowledge."

"Acknowledged." Friday went quiet.

Tasha looked down at Vision again. "I'm going to give you as much information as I possibly can," she said, eyes blazing with a fervor he hadn't seen before. "This is dangerous. You've got to swear to me not to tell anyone you know this, unless they're one of the seven Young Avengers."

"I understand, Miss Stark." He felt worried. She wanted to tell him something majorly important. It was in the way she no longer shifted around, but sat rock steady, leaning forward to brace her elbows on her knees.

"All right. Good." Tasha took a deep breath. "What all do you know about the Infinity Stones?"

* * *

It was late at night- very late. So late it was early, to Stephanie. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she wandered out of the elevator and over to the small kitchen, hauling open the freezer door and rummaging through it. A pint of ice cream emerged in her hand, and she swung the door closed and turned away, not bothering to see if it'd closed behind her.

It was as she was going through the drawers for a spoon that she noted she wasn't alone.

Pietro sat, motionless, on the couch, staring at the night sky. She frowned, but said nothing, only turned back around and said, softly, "Hey. Quicksilver."

He didn't say anything.

"Catch."

She tossed another pint of plain vanilla at him. For a moment, it looked like he wouldn't turn around in time; then, in a flash, he pivoted his torso and grabbed it from the air. Stephanie followed it up with a spoon, which he also caught.

"Thank you," he said, Sokovian accent unusually heavy. He was quiet, too- also unusual.

Stephanie made a noncommittal noise and walked around the kitchen bar. She backed up and, from a stationary, standing position, leapt backwards and onto the counter to sit. Pietro watched her, but seemed to be seeing through her more than looking at her.

She pulled off the top of the tub and dug in, watching him silently. "Bad night?" she asked after a spoonful.

He shrugged one shoulder and followed her lead, nibbling on the ice cream.

She watched him closer, noting that this was most unlike him. It must have been a bad nightmare, she supposed; it wouldn't surprise her. Her father woke up several times a week because of them, and the other Young Avengers weren't exactly quiet about the nightmares both they and their parent-figures suffered from.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly.

Pietro's eyes focused on her. He shook his head once and dropped his gaze again.

"Hm." She took another spoonful, staring thoughtfully out the floor-to-ceiling windows across from herself.

Silence filled the air again. She took a few more bites and studied Pietro.

He was almost completely still, not moving unless it was to take a bite, and even that was rare. His hands trembled slightly, on further observation. His blue eyes were glazed over. As she observed, he gave a full-body shudder and went completely still.

"Y'know," she said casually, averting her gaze to watch the horizon once more, "I don't think you properly know our story. The Young Avengers, I mean- it's all of our story. I think we gave you a glimpse of it, but you don't know the whole thing."

She didn't look at him, but could tell that he'd turned to look at her. She kept talking.

"See, we're not from here," she said, and took another small bite. "As in, REALLY not from here. Try looking us up some time- we don't exist except for what little SHIELD planted about us. We're entirely ghosts in the system."

He didn't say anything, but she knew she had his attention.

"We're from an alternate universe- a universe with the same basic outline as this one, only no superheroes or supervillains. There, well- this whole world-" she waved her spoon around a bit- "is a series of movies. You knew that. Everyone knows that, thanks to what went down between Lori and Wanda. What you don't really know is that we'd held conversations about what happened and what we wanted to change."

She glanced at him long enough to see the incredulous look on his face.

"Believe me or not, it's the truth," she said casually, and shrugged. "But that's neither here nor there. What's important is that through some fluke of the universe, we ended up here. In this universe."

She shifted around to get more comfortable and continued. "We showed up about half a week before the Chitauri descended on New York. Great timing, for us- we wanted to help fight, and through this same fluke of nature, we could. We were all similar enough to the Avengers of this world that it was no problem to take up positions behind them, with the same powers they had. 'S a bit of a long story. Remind one of us to tell you the full story sometime."

He nodded.

"But we fought in the Battle of New York, as people have taken to calling it. It was bloody, and disastrous. A lot of people died." She looked at him, eyes bleak. "We were 16 or so at the time- all of us. 16 year olds in a war. We had no idea what we were asking for, when we wished back home to be here. We got a taste of it, though- more than a taste, more like a 5 course meal."

She took another bite or two. "And that's just the battle. We still had cleanup. I remember- I found this little girl under the rubble, one of the days we were out working. She was... she was in a bad state. Some of her limbs had been crushed by debris. She was so young. I later found out that... well, she lived, but... her right arm and leg had to be amputated."

He winced at that.

She stared off, eyes unseeing. "And she was lucky. So many deaths... you can't imagine the pain and suffering we saw, and the sheer amount of guilt we dealt with- all of us, not just the Young Avengers. It was... incredible."

She fell silent, and Pietro looked at her. "Then what?" he asked softly.

Stephanie glanced at him and tried for a smile. "We went home," she said simply.

"Home?"

"Yeah. We're not from here- we don't belong. So the universe decided to right the balance and take us home. 16 year olds, who'd seen enough death to last a lifetime, dumped back into the world of high school." She smiled bitterly. "Everything seemed kind of worthless after that. After all, what's the point in school when you've saved the world?

"But we made it. And we waited. And we prayed something fierce that we'd come back. And we got lucky. For the second time, we came back. We came home. That was maybe 3 weeks ago."

She shifted some more. "I tell you this... to say that you aren't alone. When we went home, I spent the next month waking up, every night, about to scream. Some nights, early on, I did. I had nightmares about everything- my dad dying, my friends dying, everything around me going up in ash and leaving me as the sole survivor. I couldn't cope. Y'know how I did?"

He shook his head.

"It wasn't just me having nightmares. It was all of us. So we hauled our collective butts together, had a sleepover, and talked everything out. We just spilled our guts to each other. Talked about everything- what we missed most, what we were dreaming of, if we were coping or how. We cried a lot, and laughed a little, and fell asleep like puppies in a pile. And you know what?"

"What?"

"Not a single nightmare."

"So you suggest we do the same?" he asked. He sounded derisive.

"Not if you don't want to," Stephanie said calmly, continuing to eat her ice cream. "But just know that all of us are here to talk to. Sam Wilson's great to talk to. He's talked to war vets at the VA for ages." She noted his confused expression and explained, "War veterans at the Veteran's Association. He's a kind of therapist."

"Have you had any… what did you call them, puppy piles? Those- since the battle?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, not yet. I'm expecting one within the next few nights, though." Stephanie took a huge bite of ice cream, savored it, and then swore, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, crap- brain freeze, brain freeze, ow ow ow ow-"

He laughed as she winced and rubbed her temples. That was good- it was what she wanted. As she straightened from the faked brain freeze, she was glad to notice he'd forgotten what she'd said and his own troubles, to an extent, because he was looking tired out.

"Anyways," she continued. "Ask J- Friday whenever you're awake if there's a puppy pile going on, and if there is, come join us."

Pietro nodded and took another bite himself. "If you do not mind my asking," he said after a moment, "Why do you always call Friday by another name, at first?"

Stephanie's shoulders sagged. For a moment, she looked exhausted and saddened. "Before there was the Vision, there was Jarvis," she said softly. "Jarvis was Stark's AI butler- similar to what Friday is now. Jarvis was as close to sentient as an AI could be. No matter what, when you stepped into the Tower, you could count on hearing Jarvis greet you." She looked close to tears now. "He was like a friend. He still lives on in Vision, somewhat, but…"

"It is not the same," Pietro said simply.

Stephanie nodded, face shadowed as she stared down at her ice cream. "I miss him," she confessed. "Whenever I woke up from a nightmare in the Tower, Jarvis was right there. 'It is such-and-such-time, the weather is clear, the temperature is this, the date is this, you are here,' so on and so forth. It centered me, and everyone else. Gave us something tangible to hold on to." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "God, why am I crying? He was an AI, for chris'sake, not a real person. Hell, he's still kind of here, in Vision."

"It's been a long week," someone said from the shadows of the hallway. Claire padded into the room, dragging a quilt behind her. Her pillow was tucked under one arm. "Besides, it threw me for one helluva loop when I woke up to a Scottish voice asking if I was ok. I miss him too."

"As do I," Brenda admitted. She trailed behind Claire, blanket thrown around her shoulders and gathered in her arms. She hugged her pillow as she chose a seat in the living room. "Friday's great, but she's got a lot to learn. When Dad comes back, I doubt she'll know you have to remind him to sleep and eat."

"Is it going to be a puppy pile after all?" Stephanie asked, even as she shoved off the counter and retrieved two more pints of ice cream from the refrigerator and hurled them at Claire and Brenda's heads.

"Depends," Claire said as she caught her pint, opened it, and dug in with her fingers. Stephanie made a face and hurled a spoon at her head. She caught it without looking, licked her fingers clean, and continued, "I think I heard movement as I walked past Tasha's room."

"I definitely heard Lena humming to herself," Brenda added. She waited until Stephanie gently tossed her a spoon to open her pint and start eating.

"Dude I heard ice cream," Tasha announced as she walked into the main room. She had pillows tucked under both arms- about 6 of them total- and she hurled them all at Claire's head. She was followed by Nathan, who nodded to the group and found a seat, predictably, beside Claire. Stephanie sighed and pulled out a few more pints of ice cream and spoons to go with them.

"Hey, Friday? Queue up the fourth Star Wars," Tasha ordered. She went over and retrieved a pint for herself.

"Grab one for me? I'm a bit… tied down," Nathan called softly. Claire had flopped down and put her head in his lap, effectively pinning him in place.

Stephanie realized what Tasha was going to do a moment before she did it. "No, don't-"

Tasha turned and threw a pint of ice cream at Nathan's head as hard as she could. Nathan watched as it flew towards him, a resigned look crossing his face, as he reached out to catch it. Then Pietro snatched it out of the air and handed it to him.

"Go ahead, ruin all my fun," Tasha proclaimed, pressing a hand to her heart.

"'Your fun', as you call it, would've had me right on your tail allllll of tomorrow," Claire said, not even bothering to open her eyes.

"What did I miss?" Lena asked as she walked out of the hallway that led to their bedrooms.

"Nothing. Ice cream?" Tasha asked, and threw her a pint. She caught it and walked over to pick up a spoon.

"Are we making another puppy pile?" she asked.

"Looks like it."

"I shall go get Wanda," Pietro said as he turned towards the hallway.

"No need," a clear, if tired, voice said. Wanda herself wandered into the common area, clutching a bathrobe to her chest and looking thoroughly worn out. "I heard your voices."

The rest of the Young Avengers filed in one by one, finishing with Lori. She hesitated in the doorway, looking at Wanda with a wary glint in her eyes. Wanda just looked at her.

"I do not like what you did," she said after a moment, "but you saved my brother and we defeated Ultron, partially due to what you did. I will forgive you, but I will not forget."

"That's fair," Lori said, and glided over to sit between Lena and Nathan.

When they all had their ice cream pints, spoons, pillows, blankets, and preferred buddies, the group settled down together. Stephanie was the first to speak up.

"So," she said casually. "Anyone want to share their dream, or should I go first?"

"You speak, you go," Claire said, not opening her eyes from where she leaned on Nathan's shoulder.

"All right then." She took another bite of ice cream and considered for a moment. "I dreamed that Dad was fighting a group of Hydra goons on a rooftop, and I was standing on another rooftop too far away to go help. Dad was hurt, bad, and I could tell he was losing the fight. One of them shot him, and he was too close to the edge of the roof, and he went over." Her brilliant blue eyes were shadowed. "I woke up with a scream in my throat, reaching for him."

Brenda was sitting beside her. She nudged her shoulder gently and stole a bite of Stephanie's ice cream. It took her a good few minutes of silence to work up the courage to say what had caused her to wake up. "I watched the Hulk die," she said simply, and there was a group shudder. Stephanie was sure whatever could kill the Hulk would haunt everyone's nightmares.

Tasha spoke next, after just a minute or two of silence. "Spoilers," she said. "Massive spoilers."

"Is it him?" Jarvis' quiet voice asked from the doorway. They all turned to look; the Vision hovered there. Tasha patted the cushion beside her as she nodded. Stephanie spared her a suspicious look, but Nathan spoke up next and her attention went to him.

They went in a random order, from one to another, blurting out their nightmare in some cases, speaking with halted words in others. Eventually, all that was left was Pietro. Even Wanda had spoken.

It had been ten minutes since Claire had spoken. No one looked at Pietro, all engrossed in their ice cream pints, most of which were empty.

Out of nowhere, Pietro shifted and spoke.

"I saved Barton and the boy," he said quietly. "But Claire wasn't there. I felt every bullet hit me. Could count them- one, two, three, four, five. I felt my heart stop. I felt Wanda feel me die. I watched her collapse, then go find Ultron. I watched Sokovia fall. Everything- I could see it happen, but I couldn't tell her I was there. I could do nothing." His hands shook as he stretched them out in a shrug. "I could only… watch."

He looked up at the group. Stephanie was sheet white, hand pressed to her mouth as she looked at him. Tasha's hands were tight fists on her quilt as she stared into the center of their circle. Lena's eyes were blank, while Brenda was shaking, just a bit. Claire had a death grip on Nathan's arm as her eyes flicked between the twins. Vision simply seemed puzzled.

"What?"

Tasha looked up at him. "What you dreamed was what happened," she said, quietly and calmly. "In our version of the story."

Wanda choked on air. Pietro's jaw dropped.

"How?" he asked, swallowing hard. "How did I dream that, then?"

"Coincidence?" Brenda said, in a very faraway voice. "The universe has a way of laughing at us."

"Parallel universes?" Lori suggested, hand shielding her mouth as she stared at the opposite wall. "Memory transfer?"

"We know for sure they exist," Claire whispered. "Alternate universes, I mean. Hell, we're from one."

Stephanie rose to her knees and toddled over to Pietro and Wanda. Both twins looked at her uncomprehendingly until she leaned forwards and hugged both of them. Pietro hugged back after a moment, Wanda right after her.

Behind her back, Tasha grinned at Claire and mouthed, "Mama Bear." Claire gave her a shaky smile and nodded.

"I'm glad you're both ok," she said softly, as she released and rocked back on her heels. One hand stayed on each of their shoulders. Wanda gave her a smile, gingerly. Pietro nodded back at her.

"And thus, you have met Mother Stephanie," Brenda said. Her eyes danced as Stephanie turned around and gave her a Look. "Aw, c'mon, you know it's true!"

They dissolved into laughter, and the moment was lost.


	19. Author's Note (NOT A CHAPTER)

Hello everyone,

No chapter today. I just wanted to let you know what was going on, and why I've been absent for so long.

You may have heard about the massive hailstorm in Texas that sent hailstones the size of softballs/grapefruits plummeting through roofs. Unfortunately, my house was directly in the path of the storm, and my parents are currently at home, dealing with 100+ holes in the roof the size of my fist.

Needless to say, I've been minorly distracted.

On top of all this, it's the week before Finals Week at my college, and I've had a rough second-half of the semester, mostly due to the fact that I couldn't focus on anything besides alternate between "holy shit my house is basically unlivable, I have to get a job and pay for more of my college, what am I going to do, how much damage will insurance cover, _what do you mean it's gotten worse_ " and curling up on my bed and crying. I'm really, really trying to focus on pulling my shit together so I can keep my scholarships.

I've got the next chapter half-written. It should be the final chapter. I'm excited for Civil War, so that's still going to definitely be a thing.

For right now, though, I need to calm down and try to keep myself from completely dissolving into a pile of primordial ooze that can no longer think or do anything except lay there.

Please, pray for Texas. Houston's underwater and hundreds of people are displaced there. Dallas is recovering from the first hailstorm and it looks like there may be another round coming our way Tuesday. This is already one of the worst springs I can remember, and it looks like it's gonna keep getting worse.

Thank you for your patience. _This will get finished._

~Aileen


End file.
